health and safety workplace case studies

Prepared for

Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety

by

Heathrose Research

5 April 2013

Report: Health and Safety

Workplace Case Studies

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Table of Contents

Introduction ...........................................................................................................3

Overview of Methodology ......................................................................................3

Pullin Shearing Ltd ..................................................................................................5

Nelson Pine Industries Ltd ....................................................................................13

RAL Logging Ltd ....................................................................................................25

Hayes International NZ .........................................................................................32

Goodman Fielder NZ Ltd .......................................................................................39

Tauranga City Council ...........................................................................................46

Contract Coatings Ltd............................................................................................55

Reds .....................................................................................................................61

Pye South Stream Dairy Farm ...............................................................................65

Sealord Group Ltd.................................................................................................70

Acknowledgements

The research team wishes to thank all of the people who participated in the research by responding to requests for interviews, taking the time to be interviewed arranging work site visits and reviewing draft case studies. This includes general managers, line managers, health and safety specialists, health and safety representatives, and workers from:

• Contract Coatings Ltd • Goodman Fielder NZ Ltd • Hayes International Ltd • Nelson Pine Industries Ltd • Pye Southstream Dairy

• Pullin Shearing Ltd • RAL Logging Ltd • Reds • Sealord Group Ltd • Tauranga City Council

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Introduction

This report provides individual case studies of workplace health and safety systems in ten New Zealand organisations. The case studies were completed on contract to the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety1.

The case studies aim to illustrate:

• the nature of health and safety systems operating in NZ workplaces • how health and safety representatives operate in workplaces and how

managers and employees interact with regard to health and safety • how these systems and processes are influenced by the size of the

workplace, nature of industry and organisational form.

An outline of the methodology used to conduct the case studies is provided below, followed by the case study reports.

Overview of Methodology

The companies were invited to participate. Most were identified by the Taskforce members, and approached by the researchers. An initial sampling frame sought to include a mix of up to 12 organisations including:

• those with fewer than and more than 30 employees • those operating in priority industries of agriculture, construction, fishing, food

manufacturing, forestry and metal manufacturing • those operating in service industries such as health, personal care, local body • a range of business models, including enabling consideration of health and

safety management in the supply chain.

The case studies were undertaken during January-February 2013 and involved between ½-2 days onsite data collection using semi-structured interview schedules. Between 4-31 individuals2 were interviewed either individually or in groups in each organisation and in some cases researchers observed others engaged in health and safety meetings or other activities3. Interviewees held a range of roles, as set out in Table One.

1 A second report, ‘Case Study Policy Themes’ is provided separately. It was also commissioned by the Taskforce and provides a thematic overview of the case study results. 2 All interviewees gave their informed consent to participating. 3 This was also supplemented in some cases with phone interviews where key people were unavailable.

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Table One: Roles and numbers of case study interviewees

Role Completed interviews

General/senior managers 23

Health & Safety specialists 15

Line managers/supervisors 47

Health & Safety &/or union representatives 24

Other workers 40

TOTAL 149

Interviews explored how health and safety systems were operating in that workplace and interviewee’s views on health and safety. Documentation on the operation of each company’s health and safety systems was also collected from each workplace and in some instances interviews with external company advisors/service providers (e.g. a farm safety expert; occupational health nurses), and a contract principal were completed to inform the case study.

As agreed with the Secretariat the case studies are constructed using a set of common headings. A draft of each case study was provided to and subsequently approved for provision to the Taskforce by the organisations concerned.

It might be expected that companies that are willing to volunteer for a study such as this have a reasonable level of confidence in their approach to health and safety. This suggests that the case study companies are likely to reflect the ‘better end’ of practice in New Zealand.

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Pullin Shearing Ltd

Company name Pullin Shearing Ltd

Location visited Rolleston, Canterbury

Business structure Privately owned company

What the company does Shearing contractors

Number of employees 25 core; 120 to 130 over a year

Types of jobs in the company Managers, administrator, shearers, woolhandlers and pressers

Number of dedicated health and safety staff

One (part time)

Background and context

Pullin Shearing Limited is a privately owned and operated shearing contracting company based in Rolleston, Canterbury. It comprises the two owners (Barry and Trisha Pullin), one permanent part time office administrator (who is responsible for the administration of the health and safety system) and shearers, woolhandlers and pressers. Pullin Shearing moved from a partnership to a company structure in 2001, and won the Selwyn District Council Business of the Year Award for 2008/09.

The business extends from Banks Peninsula across to the Main Divide, and from just north of Ashburton to North Canterbury. Work is performed in farmers’ wool sheds spread over more than 160 work sites. Work is continuous throughout the year with peak demands during summer and at pre-lamb time. Most workers live locally and travel each day to the worksite (quarters are provided on some of the more remote farms). Pullin Shearing provides a fleet of vehicles used to transport staff to and from the work place and base. The company prides itself on its team culture. Drug and alcohol abuse are not tolerated and random drug and alcohol testing is carried out4.

The company has a core staff of around 25, with seasonal workers who come in for two to three months over the peak times, and a third tier of casual workers who may work only a day or two at a time. The company employs 120 to 130 staff over a year. The company’s philosophy is ‘to be the best they can be’ and they challenge and support their staff to exhibit the same attitude. The management values their staff and aims to provide a safe environment, “They have to know that we have their interests at heart”.

Pullin Shearing is accredited as a tertiary ACC Workplace Safety Management Practices (WSMP) business. In exchange for putting in place systems and processes

4 Sourced from New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association Inc website (accessed 4.2.13) http://www.nzshearing.co.nz/index.php?pageLoad=26

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that promote injury prevention, the programme gives employers discounts on their standard ACC WorkPlace Cover levies5. Pullin Shearing was first audited and accredited in 2006, with follow-up audits occurring every two years since then.

Shearing is a high-risk industry. It is highly physical, “the hard physical nature of the work demands peak physical fitness”6. Getting workers to the site carries with it all the usual motor vehicle risks; the wool shed is a potentially hazardous environment, and the tasks related to shearing also carry short-term injury and long-term overuse risks. There is also the risk of secondary infections from cuts and lacerations. The industry is infamous for alcohol and drug issues7.

The industry recognises the need for a robust and high-profile approach to health and safety. In line with this, a best practice guide has been developed in partnership with several organisations:

• New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association • Farmsafe • Amalgamated Workers union New Zealand (AWUNZ) Southern Branch • Meat and Wool New Zealand • Agriculture ITO • ACC • SHEAResults • Tectra • Federated Farmers of New Zealand

This publication was first published in 2002, but is seen as a living document and is regularly updated8.

Health and safety management systems

As mentioned above, the company is a tertiary-level WSMP business. This means that their health and safety systems, monitoring and reporting are highly structured and formalised, with regular self and external auditing. The external audit follows a very prescriptive process using an audit tool, and the results are provided in a comprehensive report. While being an accredited WSMP business gives a discount on ACC premiums, the discount “Doesn’t come anywhere near the cost of running the system”. The key driver for participation for the company is ‘to be the best they can be’ in health and safety, and to know that they can ‘stack up against’ any other business that maintains accreditation. The company has also worked with other shearing contractors to assist and mentor them as they worked towards accreditation.

5 http://www.acc.co.nz/for-business/small-medium-and-large-business/how-to-pay-less/BUS00054 6 The New Zealand shearing industry – a case study (Pullin, B. and Tipples, R). In Employment Relations Record, V.8, No.1, 2008, p.69. 7 http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/8197515/Shearing-community-urged-to-fight-drugs 8 Best practice guideline for the New Zealand shearing industry: A guide for workplaces (Department of Labour, 2008). http://www.osh.dol.govt.nz/order/catalogue/40.shtml

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Hazard identification and control

Pullin Shearing has a comprehensive Hazard Register that identifies hazards common to all shearing sheds. This register goes out in a vehicle folder each day, to which workers have access, and is updated every six months. Shed specific hazards are noted in the Client Shed Register for individual worksites. It is clear from the Hazard Register that in the shearing context, it is not possible to ‘eliminate’ many of the hazards, “We can’t do anything about the sheep. They’re a fact of life!”. Therefore most of the controls focus on isolation or minimization of the hazards, with the register providing clear descriptions of what checks should be made and actions taken.

Before engaging with a new client, a comprehensive shed ‘warrant of fitness’ (WOF) is carried out and the results are recorded on a Shed WOF Form. Day-to-day hazard notification is reported via the daily tally sheet and filled out by a team member using a simple tick-box method. Any issues discovered by either the WOF check, or during the working day are investigated in the office and are incorporated in a Hazard Control Implementation Plan (HCIP) if necessary. The actions resulting from the HCIP are monitored by the Health and Safety Committee, and any hazard trends or new ways of controlling are disseminated via regular staff updates and training.

Incident/accident reporting

Accidents, incidents and near misses are also identified using the ‘tick and flick’ method incorporated in the daily task sheet. Any incidents are reported by the Team Leader, using an Incident Report Form. Management completes an Incident Investigation Report, with incidents and their outcomes captured on an Accident Register, and these are discussed at the subsequent Health and Safety Committee meeting. The Health and Safety Review Folder forms the basis for a six-weekly planning meeting that keeps the company ‘on track’ with all their health and safety requirements.

The company collates health and safety reports and analyses these for trends. This allows the pre-causes of incidents to be identified and an action plan to be developed and implemented. The trends are shared with the workers every six months or earlier if required, via colourful graphs and charts, which provide clear justification when remedial actions are suggested. For example, there was a pattern of incidents happening after the morning smoko break. This was discussed across the company, and the simple prevention strategy of warming up again after a break was suggested and implemented.

Training

“We’ve got a training environment here, where training is not something to be scared of…” Pullin Shearing runs a comprehensive induction session for all new staff, where there is a significant focus on health and safety issues, emphasising both individual and company benefits. Shearing and wool-handling skills are taught at Tectra training courses, where good technique is taught, along with health and safety

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checks and processes9. Correct technique is particularly important for injury and over-use prevention, “Shearing training is far better than it used to be. It used to be that one shearer learnt of another. Now there’s actually proper training”. Interestingly, the older staff appear to be less likely to attend this type of training.

One of the most significant hazards in the shearing industry is getting workers to and from the work site. In recognition of this, four or five staff every two years are put through advanced driver training. All staff undertake regular emergency first aid training, which is tailored to the industry, and focuses on strains, sprains and lacerations, and CPR training.

The company uses the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce’s health and safety training10. The three managers have completed Stage 3 training and will attend higher-level courses as they are available. The Health and Safety Committee members have attended Stage 1 and Stage 2 training so far. The company has recognised internal and external trainers for specific areas relating to both health and safety and technique.

Employee participation

The company has a Health and Safety Committee, comprising three staff members (two shearers and one wool-handler) and the three managers. The committee meets four times a year (in line with ACC audit requirements) but at the busiest time of the year one of these meetings may be a less-formal ‘micro-meeting’. The meetings have an agenda and minutes are taken and displayed for all staff. Some discussion items are in response to issues and actions identified as part of the processes described above, while new issues can also be brought to the table. Staff representatives were initially ‘shoulder-tapped’. There has been low turnover of the committee since its inception, with only one formal election process carried out since.

Occupational health monitoring

The company recognises that shearing poses a constant risk of overuse injuries. There can be a seasonal element to this, for example, the use of a specialist winter comb, which requires a different technique. The company is very conscious of getting younger workers into good habits and provides advice on useful exercises as well as written material. They are part of ACC’s Discomfort, Pain and Injury (DPI) Programme and receive regular information and newsletters11. The company has physiotherapists who they recommend and workers appear to be happy to self-refer if injury or niggling pain is a problem.

Other potential risks, such a chemicals stored in shearing sheds, are identified and monitored through the Shed WOF process.

9 http://www.woolpro.co.nz/home 10 http://www.cecc.org.nz/main/eventList/index.cfm?browseBy=category&categoryid=2 11 http://www.accdpi.org.nz

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Health and safety culture

The systems, monitoring and training described above, while obviously crucial to good health and safety practices at Pullin Shearing, merely provide the mechanics of the health and safety system. The co-owners discussed the culture shift required to successfully implement and embed the system.

“It’s very scary for a business setting up a WSMP system, where you invest so heavily in management, and you do all that, and suddenly you’ve got to take your glorious little plan that you’ve come up with, and charge and empower your staff to have ownership of it … you’ve got to have a culture change in your staff so they become receptive to your ideas, value it for themselves and see how important it is”

There are a number of elements that go towards the health and safety culture at Pullin Shearing. Firstly, that health and safety is seen as an integral part of good business practice, “If you’re not working smart and working safely, you’re asking for something to go wrong”. It is taken account of (for example) as workflow is planned, as job-related or management training is planned, as relationships with clients and suppliers are built, and as the future direction of the company is considered. It is not seen as a separate ‘module’ and there is a very real sense that it is driven by much more than compliance. Good health and safety practices and support are a tangible way that the company uses to show how highly they value their workers.

Secondly, the manager thought that health and safety has to be simple. While Pullin Shearing has a very structured health and safety system, with myriad forms and reporting processes, the points where the workers interact with this system are very clear and very simple. This in no way diminishes their input to the system; their role in the system is to take responsibility for themselves and their co-workers, to do their jobs well and safely, and to observe and monitor their environment and colleagues. But the reporting process has to be straightforward, “If you expect them to fill in two pages and a lot of writing – not gonna happen!”.

The managers also believe that health and safety has to be holistic, “I hate the words “health and safety” –it’s a total culture, it has to be – and it’s not just workplace-based, it’s home as well”. The company acknowledges the need for a task-specific health and safety regime, because of the high-risk environment in the woolshed, but argues that, “Everything else has to be lined-up as well…the employees have to be able to keep themselves safe, as well as others around them”. This results in the company ‘going the extra mile for the staff’ and providing information and support across a wide range of areas. For example, the company has organised, in conjunction with the local Primary Health Organisation, a mandatory Shear Wellness Day, where staff will be rotated through various health and wellness speakers over the course of a day. The company sees this as particularly important for the causal and itinerant workers, as many of these people (and their families) do not have a relationship with a health provider because they move around so much.

Health and safety also has to be habitual, “This is something that we stress and they have it drummed into them, that when they go to a new place, they have to do a

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quick warrant of fitness check of the whole building so they can identify any potential problems that might impact on their day’s work”.

Pullin Shearing has comprehensive and very structured health and safety systems. However, the manifestation of those systems is in the day-to-day practices of their workers. Good health and safety practices are inculcated into Pullin Shearing’s workers from the first day they join the company, and those practices are constantly reinforced. Health and safety activities are not presented as an optional ‘nice to have’, or as something that is imposed by government, but rather as ‘that’s how we do things around here’. For example, the company suggests to workers that they practice trial evacuations (which are a workplace requirement) at home as well, so that they ‘can do it in their sleep’ if there’s an emergency.

Key to making health and safety habitual is that the philosophy, messages and actions required must be communicated thoroughly and consistently. At Pullin Shearing the workers assemble at ‘home base’ every morning before heading off to assigned work sites. There is a tool-box briefing each morning, with some aspect of health and safety often highlighted. There are regular staff newsletters, which include health and safety tips, one-on-one meetings, and small group meetings, as required and depending on the issues to be communicated.

Health and safety is both a top down and bottom up endeavour. The co-owner, Barry Pullin, is heavily involved in the wool industry sector and is currently President of the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association. He also sits on the New Zealand Wool Harvesting Health and Safety Committee. There are considerable links to government agencies and international industry organisations. Pullin Shearing Ltd is also heavily involved in ShearNZ and was the first New Zealand shearing business to sign up to it. ShearNZ encompasses a holistic business approach enabling shearing businesses to develop, attain and maintain best practice in seven elements. These elements are employment, health and safety, training, wool preparation, woolshed facilities, animal welfare and environmental sustainability. “We’ve got to push to try to improve the whole industry, ‘cos Barry’s involved with the New Zealand Shearing Contractor’s Association – we want to empower our people and make them step up”.

The company is currently upskilling their team leaders, moving them to becoming shed managers. This will involve a greater degree of responsibility for those people, allowing them to take more control for the output and health and safety of the team. The system is also reliant on ‘good’ peer pressure. Initially, the company was ‘directional’ about health and safety, but has gradually been able to move to a ‘relational’ model as staff have embraced the philosophy and taken ownership of their pivotal role in the system.

What is working well at Pullin Shearing

Particular areas that stood out at Pullin Shearing were the systems, leadership, culture and capability. The company has established a highly structured and formalised health and safety system, which is fully integrated into both the values and the day-to-day business of the company. Health and safety, while initially driven by

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the owners, now succeeds because leadership is devolved throughout the company. In relation to culture it is seen as, just good business, simple, holistic, habitual, well and consistently communicated.

While all staff members share responsibility for sound health and safety practices, it is clear that having a dedicated health and safety administrator is crucial to success. Pullin Shearing also has strong relationships with many external parties who they draw upon to support their health and safety system including, for example, health providers, training companies, and government agencies.

Issues raised

Production pressures versus health and safety considerations

The team has production targets to be met on a daily basis so there is pressure to perform and to continue working. Shearers are paid on a piecemeal rate of pay, so there is a strong incentive to keep going. The work-flow of the remainder of the team is dictated by the shearers’ productivity. The role of the team leader is important in this context, as they must monitor anyone who is working when they are clearly injured or in pain. Shearers are also intensely competitive, both with each other and themselves, often striving to meet and beat their own top tallies. It is a fine line between maximising the strength of the team culture, without jeopardizing the health and safety impacts on individuals. Very aware of this tension, the co-owner emphasises that, “Our whole philosophy is around that we need them to do their best tally today – but we also need them to be able to do it tomorrow”.

Variations in commitment to health and safety levels from clients

“One of our bugbears is that our clients (farmers) don’t understand the ownership and responsibility they have under the Act in relation to independent contractors … if they fully understood what their responsibility was, you would have every shearing business with health and safety …”.

This impacts on shearing health and safety in two ways. First, especially where sheep are a secondary income stream for farmers, less attention may be paid to the environmental health and safety risks, for example the upkeep of the shearing shed. Second, if farmers do not insist on robust health and safety processes from their contractors, companies who don’t pay sufficient attention to such matters can continue to work in the industry, “I hate to say it, but there’s probably 65% of the businesses out there operating in the New Zealand shearing industry who need a bloody good kick in the arse and shouldn’t be allowed on a farm”. The onus for health and safety must rest on the principal of the work-site as well as the independent contractor.

Impact of the Canterbury earthquakes

Canterbury businesses have a greater perception of risk since the earthquakes, making health and safety considerations much more ‘real’, “If your business hasn’t

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got a health and safety system and you can’t be seen to be demonstrating that you’ve got good health and safety practices, then you don’t get the job”.

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Nelson Pine Industries Ltd

Sumitomo shall manage its activities with foresight and flexibility in order to cope effectively with the changing times. Under no circumstances, however, shall it pursue easy gains or act imprudently.

(Rules Governing the House of Sumitomo, Masatomo Sumitomo, 1585–1652)

Company Nelson Pine Industries Ltd

Location visited Nelson

Business structure Owned by Sumitomo Forestry Company, Japan

One New Zealand location

What the company does Produces GoldenEdge MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) and NelsonPine LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) from radiata pine.

Number of employees 250

Types of jobs in the company Executive management, technicians, operators, engineers, fitters, electricians, sales


One, plus an externally contracted occupational health nurse.


Nelson Pine Industries Ltd (NPIL) is a NZ registered private company, wholly owned since 1991 by Sumitomo Forestry Company, Japan. One of the philosophies underlying the operational principles put in place by the Sumitomo Corporation is sustainability and taking a long-term view, as illustrated by the quote above. This philosophy is incorporated into Human Resource Management practice and relationships with contractors and suppliers.

NPIL has a single site in Nelson. It was established in 1984 and currently employs 250 people. It is New Zealand’s largest Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) manufacturer and has also produced Veneer (VL) and Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) since 2001 and 2002. These three main lines produce around 100m3 of MDF per week, around 500m3 of VL and LVL per week. The technology used for producing MDF is around 25 years old, whereas (as noted above) that used for the VL and LVL lines were new in 2001/2002. The Nelson plant also includes an Engineering group (undertaking mechanical, electrical and maintenance work), chipmill and despatch.

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About 85% of NPIL product is exported, primarily to Japan, China, South East Asia and India. NPIL distributes MDF and LVL to trade and retail outlets and to down-stream manufacturers (e.g. laminators, furniture and cabinet manufacturers). The workforce is primarily male, and older than average in comparison to the New Zealand workforce. There is a very low rate of labour turnover, in part attributable to the relatively good wages and conditions of work compared to the local area. Sixty-five percent of those employed at the Nelson plant have worked there for more than 20 years.

While most of the plant works permanent shifts, employees in the MDF line work a 12 hour shift, with three days on and three days off. The company has a commitment to minimise shift work, in part because of the noticeable impact that it has had on reducing accident rates.

Key performance indicators for the manufacturing operations include output per hour, efficiencies, hours of up-time, power usage, and health and safety (with an aim of zero lost-time injuries).


The health and safety system in operation at NPIL was driven by the desire to comply with AS/NZS 4801 for Occupational health and safety management systems. Work towards this started in the early 2000s, and accreditation was finally achieved in 2012. NPIL is also accredited under ACC’s Workplace Safety Management Practices (WSMP) system. Overall, systems at NPIL are comprehensive, systematic and subject to regular review and audit.

In addition to the existence of an all-inclusive policy, an active approach is taken to:

• Planning (for hazard identification, risk identification and hazard control), with procedures in place for ensuring compliance with legal requirements, development of health and safety objectives and indicators, and health and safety management plans

• Implementation - with clear accountabilities for all aspects of health and safety management, including a requirement for resources to be made available for health and safety initiatives and improvements, for employees and managers to be trained and competent in relevant health and safety requirements, for consultation and communication with employees and health and safety representatives and for regular reporting, adequate documentation to be maintained, and systematic procedures in place for hazard identification, assessment and control, and emergency preparedness and response

• Measurement and evaluation – with systems in place for monitoring and assessment, incident investigation and corrective and preventative action, records and record management and audit

• Management review.

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The health and safety policy was last reviewed in 2012, with signoff at the Managing Director level. The policy consists of nine key points that sets out the company’s commitment to:

• comply with all relevant legislation, regulation, Codes of Practice and other standards

• continually improve these systems with the aim of eliminating workplace injury and illness

• assess and manage workplace hazards taking all practicable steps, in line with the eliminate, isolate and minimise (EIM) hierarchy

• establish health and safety objectives that are SMART and maintain their relevance and effectiveness through regular review and update

• accurately report and investigate accidents and incidents to identify and control their causes

• support a safe and early return to work where injury or illness has occurred

• involve employees and other interested parties in health and safety management

• ensure that good health and safety practices are understood and become an integral part of employee work practices

• expect that all employees, managers, contractors and other stakeholders recognise and meet their health and safety responsibilities.

A number of these key principles set out further details of employer and employee obligations that are clear about where accountabilities lie. The policy is written in plain language, on one side of A4 paper and is phrased in terms of positive obligations on all staff members.

Health and safety management is characterised by a strong systems approach. A comprehensive handbook (62 pages) is provided to employees and covers all aspects of health, safety and environmental management. Supervisors are accountable for providing this handbook to new employees at induction, and satisfying themselves that employees are familiar with its content. Included in this handbook are policies related to:

• Accidents and incidents • Safe use of machinery and tools (e.g., forklifts, cranes and lifting

appliances, ladders, spray painting) • Health and safety procedures related to visitors and contractors • Use of Personal Protective Equipment (protective clothing, eye protection,

hard hats, hearing protection) • Personal safety (including behavioural safety, drugs and alcohol and

stress management) • Safe Work procedures including use of “hold” cards, out of order cards,

danger cards, hot work permits, digging permits, confined work procedures, safety at heights

• Emergency procedures.

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The operation of health and safety systems is overseen by a systems manager. His responsibilities include control of all documentation, policies, processes and procedures related to health safety, quality and environmental management. He is also responsible for ensuring that functional managers review the effectiveness of hazard management control systems at least annually. The health and safety management system is supported by a robust database (the Impact Risk Management system) that has been customised for NPIL.

Underpinning this systems approach, and at least as important for the health and safety management system, is the adoption of Behavioural Safety Principles. These are explained to new employees in some detail, and there is a firm expectation that they are adhered to on a day-to-day basis. The philosophy underpinning behavioural safety is that all employees must demonstrate behaviours that reduce potential hazards and make conditions less likely to result in injury. It is a necessary complement to hazard control by individuals applying a set of work practices to avoid creating hazards, and reducing the risk of hazards that cannot be totally controlled for. At NPIL this involved the following principles:

• Maintaining clear workspace • Using the right tool • Operating competently • Using PPE • Eyes on the path (e.g., walking at a safe pace looking to avoid

slipping/tripping hazards) • Eyes on work (e.g., avoiding distraction) • Avoiding the line of fire (e.g., positioning body parts away from potential

hazards) • Avoiding pinch points (e.g., positioning the body to avoid being trapped by

moving parts) • Ascending and descending safely • Applying safe body mechanics • Managing abnormal events • Communicating and acting (e.g., personally drawing attention to unsafe

practices, immediate reporting of hazards and near misses).

The Behavioural Safety Principles have been in place for less than five years. At the time that they were implemented it reportedly met with some cynicism and resistance, but since then have been viewed much more positively.


Managers in each functional/operational area are responsible for ensuring that systematic hazard identification is conducted, with a focus on identifying underlying causes of hazards. Managers consult regularly with employees and/or health and safety representatives in the process of hazard identification.

Hazard identification occurs through a combination of audits of the work area and equipment, job and task analysis, analysis of accidents and incidents to determine

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root causes, workplace monitoring of hazardous substances and environmental scanning of relevant external sources. At the time that the interviews were conducted around one to two hazard reports were being generated per month. One of the health and safety representatives maintains control of the hazard register, reviews it on a regular basis and will prompt action by managers if prompt action on a hazard is not taken.

Immediate reporting of all new hazards is encouraged in order for it to be eliminated as early as possible. Even if quick elimination is possible, reporting is encouraged in order to enable underlying causes to be identified. This emphasis on underlying causes is increasingly a feature of the NPIL health and safety management system, with an emphasis on identifying underlying causes of failure rather than simply controlling the hazard.

Where hazards are identified the manager of that functional area enters them into the hazards register. A control process is then entered into which involves determining the significance of the hazard and identifying risk12, assessing existing control measures, determining whether new or additional control measures are needed, consultation and communication with health and safety representatives and/or those working in the area to ensure that practical solutions are arrived at, and management review (at not less than 12 monthly intervals). Hazard reviews in most areas are carried out annually, and are spread throughout the year rather than having a once-a year process. These may also take place when circumstances demand – e.g., one manager talked about how systems were reviewed to identify hazards when an order came in that required a different length of wood to the cut than was normal.

Where it is proposed new equipment is purchased, health, safety and environmental risks and benefits must be assessed by managers and health and safety representatives prior to purchase being made.

At least once a year, the manager of each functional area is required, in consultation with health and safety representatives, to review the effectiveness of hazard management procedures. Inputs into this review can include statistical trends, feedback from employees and/or health and safety representatives, health and safety audits and external sources.

A change in attitude toward hazard reporting has been noted over recent years. In the past people did not understand the value of undertaking hazard reviews, and supervisors were reluctant to release health and safety representatives to undertake them. Over time, this culture has changed, with health and safety representatives being viewed as essential to the process, and adding a high degree of value. It has also raised the visibility of behavioural safety as a necessary counter-part to hazard control, with behavioural safety being more frequently discussed on both a formal and informal basis amongst teams.

12 A scale for quantifying the level of risk is in place, based on an assessment of likelihood and potential consequence.

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Detailed processes and procedures are also in place for responding to and investigating incidents (including near misses) and for taking corrective action. This includes notification of any serious harm accidents to MBIE.

These processes identify accountabilities in these areas as being the supervisor of the area concerned for the reporting and investigation of incidents; and area managers for ensuring that resources are available to implement effective corrective/preventative action and for all other communication with MBIE.

The procedures include immediate actions to be taken including ensuring an effective medical response, notification to management, and notification to MBIE in the case of a serious harm accident.

Managers of each area are also responsible for ensuring that incidents are recorded fully and accurately on Incident Report forms and entered into the Risk Manager database within one working day of the event. This form is provided to the supervisor to complete an investigation, which is to be completed and closed off within a month. This investigation, done in conjunction with a health and safety representative if at all possible, considers the causes of the accident and recommends corrective/preventative action to address both immediate and root causes. It is expected that responsibility for completing corrective actions will be allocated to individuals.

Training

Training at NPIL is conducted in a systematic manner, and includes induction and job competency training. This gives attention to safe working practices and specialist health and safety training. All training is assessed against competencies and recoded on the employees personal file.

Managers and supervisors have the responsibility for ensuring that training is delivered effectively in their respective functional areas.

On recruitment, all new employees are provided with an Employee Handbook. This includes details regarding:

• Induction: employees are required to be inducted into the site and into specific work areas before being allowed to work in those areas. Managers use an induction checklist to systematise this, with copies signed by the employee filed on the employees training record

• Accidents: all accidents must be reported to the employee’s supervisor and recorded on an incident report form. Details are also set out regarding documentation around medical care and rehabilitation

• Safety at Work: General safety rules are set out • Misconduct and Serious misconduct: Breaches of safety rules, working in

an unsafe manner and failing to make use of safety equipment are regarded as misconduct. Grounds for instant dismissal include

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consumption of alcohol and non-prescription drugs, activities resulting in accident or injury, physical or verbal violence and deliberate actions affecting safety/hygiene/quality

• Emergency procedures • Employee health care: Employees can join the subsidised company

health care scheme after three months service • Health and safety representatives: Details are given of the system for

electing health and safety representatives and how the representative system operates

• Employee health programme: Details are provided of the employee health programme

• Rehabilitation programme: An early and safe return to meaningful and productive work following illness or injury is encouraged. Principles for putting this policy into practice include early intervention, confidentiality and informed consent, a planned and agreed return to work strategy, plan and assistance if necessary, the availability of suitable selected duties and gradual progression towards full hours of work.

Responsibility for completing initial training is shared between the Systems Manager and the functional manager. It covers both general health and safety issues that are common to all workers across the plant (e.g., working through the health and safety handbook, behavioural safety, hard hat area, hazard register) and those specific to the job that the employee is to undertake (e.g., demonstrating correct use of PPE, introduction to the health and safety representative for that area. In several areas, managers have developed competency checklists for specific role elements and for use of equipment. The trainer and trainee must sign these off before the employee is authorised to use that equipment or undertake that task unsupervised. In addition, NPIL actively enrols employees in FITEC training courses.

• 47 employees hold relevant wood manufacturing National Certificates at Level 2 or above

• 23 employees hold relevant wood manufacturing National Certificates at Level 4

• 29 employees hold National Certificates in First Line Management Level 3 or above

• 6 employees hold National Certificates in First Line Management Level 4.

Over recent years, the company has also placed considerable emphasis on training managers and health and safety representatives in heath and safety management. As a result 37 employees hold National Certificates in Occupational Health and Safety Level 3. The company has made a substantial investment in ensuring that training is of a high standard, and training is done by an experienced and expert occupational health and safety specialist.


NPIL has a well-established system for ensuring employee participation in the management of health and safety. This was first agreed with the Engineering,

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Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) and the National Distribution Union (NDU) in 2003, and is reviewed every two years. A network of 14 health and safety representatives are in place across all parts of the manufacturing operation, with 12 of these representing functional areas and two being union health and safety representatives (one from EPMU and one from NDU). Many of these have been health and safety representatives for many years and observed that the approach to health and safety had changed from a “rip s**t or bust” one in previous years, to one that was based on the twin pillars of good systems and good attitudes.

All health and safety representatives are fully trained to Level 3, and participate in training alongside supervisory and management staff (including the Manufacturing Manager). This was felt to be important in ensuring that all staff have a common approach to hazard management and continuous improvement.

The role of health and safety representatives is to:

• Foster positive safety practices throughout the company • Be a communication link between interested parties and help to resolve

issues in a cooperative manner • Identify hazards that have not been satisfactorily addressed by normal

processes and assist in developing solutions to them • Participate in hazard surveys and other hazard management processes • Be informed of incidents and accidents and participate as appropriate in

reviews to identify preventative actions • Meet with and assist in the safe induction of new employees to the

workplace • Promote the safe and early return of injured employees to work.

Although health and safety representatives are ostensibly nominated from and elected by their work group, in practice this election takes place after individuals have volunteered for the job having displayed some interest, or have been “shoulder-tapped” by their teams or by supervisors/management.

Health and safety representatives meet regularly (generally monthly) with management to discuss health and safety issues as part of area Safety Committees and all Safety Committee members are trained in health and safety to Level 3. The functions of the Safety Committee are to promote health and safety improvement by:

• Managing the election of health and safety representatives and committee members

• Making recommendations on training for health and safety representatives and others involved in health and safety management

• Monitoring and reviewing health and safety polices, practices, procedures and performance and making recommendation for improvement where opportunities are identified

• Making recommendations to management on health and safety matters • Resolving health and safety issues that have not been satisfactorily

addressed by normal procedures.

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Meetings are only a part of a much wider role for health and safety representatives. The role also includes undertaking investigations into incidents and near misses, hazard identification and monitoring behavioural safety amongst team members. When asked how much time they spent in health and safety activities, most of the representatives reported that they performed their role all the time, as an integral part of everything that they did.

Relationships between managers and health and safety representatives are positive at all levels. Managers note that health and safety representatives are increasingly asking to participate to a greater extent in health and safety activities, including undertaking full reviews of all hazards, participating fully in investigations and taking a greater role in encouraging compliance with behavioural safety principles. Nevertheless this relationship has taken some time to evolve to the maturity that it has currently. At the time that the employee representative system was first put in place, it was guided by a set of formal rules for its operation. Over time it has evolved and in the view of both employee representatives and management staff it has become both less formal and more effective. Some of the factors that have contributed to this include:

• Continuity amongst personnel, with people developing trust in each other through the experience of working together over time

• The visible financial commitment that NPIL has made to resourcing improvements in machine safety over recent years

• The commitment made by all staff (and led in practice by health and safety representatives) to implementing the principles of behavioural safety.

Managers regard health and safety representatives as a key resource. A key goal for managers is for health and safety representatives to become more involved in decision-making over the next five years.

Contractors

NPIL use a range of contractors, in particular during scheduled six-weekly shut downs for major machine maintenance. All contractors are required to adhere to NPIL’s health and safety standards. Contractors are required to undergo an assessment of their health and safety management system, which includes items such as details of the company’s safety policies, safe work practices and procedures, hazard management, incident management, reporting and investigation, training, inspection at work sites, employee participation, and performance monitoring. Contractors are required to sign an acknowledgement of their health and safety obligations, and NPIL managers undertake regular audits of behavioural and other safety requirement when contractors are on site.


A comprehensive and long-standing health monitoring programme is in place, with personnel from an external specialist occupational health and safety practice being

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on-site every second Thursday and holding 45 minute individual consultations. Regularity of contact has been important for allowing trust to be built between employees and the health professional responsible for monitoring.

The monitoring conducted includes audiometry, lung function test and respiratory health questionnaire. Testing is done at pre-employment, on an annual basis an on termination. “Fit testing” is also undertaken to ensure that all PPE is working effectively.

Additional health services are also offered to employees. These include blood pressure monitoring, weight monitoring and weight management support, stress management and assistance, basic sight tests for near vision, flu vaccinations, work station assessments, post accident or illness rehabilitation, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation. The external contractor has also at times been asked to give talks on health issues to all employees – for example on manual handling techniques after a spate of back injuries.

Health monitoring is perceived positively across the company, and the external contractor who undertakes the monitoring reported that the company has a high level of commitment to improving the health of employees.

Occupational hazards that are monitored on an annual basis for all manufacturing employees include wood dust, fumes and noise. Manufacturers material safety data sheets are available for hazardous substances and products being regularly used on all lines and are readily available to all employees.


Across the plant, a positive attitude to health and safety was evident. When asked how this had been generated, a number of people mentioned a major lost time injury that had occurred in the plant in the early 2000s. At the time, while the company believed that its health and safety management systems were robust, the employee/victim had been unaware of the particular hazard, and NPIL was prosecuted under the Health and Safety in Employment Act. This led to a much greater focus on enforcement of health and safety standards and requirements in the plant. Several people described the change that had occurred as having gone from a “rip s**t or bust” approach, and where health and safety procedures were seen as being an impediment to getting the job done, to one that had much more emphasis on forethought and individual accountability for health and safety.

The aftermath of the accident resulted in the company taking the opportunity to undertake a fundamental review of machine safety across the plant. This was done through an audit by an independent consultant who made a number of recommendations for improvements that were prioritised (after being classified as either red, blue or green) and have been implemented over recent years at a cost to the company of over $2 million.

The commissioning of the new lines had also offered an opportunity to change the existing health and safety culture. New technology, and the employment of new

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teams has been an opportunity to set high expectations and get people into good habits from an early stage.

The embedded nature of good health and safety practices is evident from comments made in interviews. Health and safety representatives reported that supervisors clearly took their health and safety responsibilities extremely seriously, with several seeing their jobs as involving taking personal responsibility for the safety and health of their team members. One supervisor described his job as looking after the people in his team and he had a personal philosophy that no-one should leave the workplace in a worse shape than when they had arrived.

It is also clear that senior managers and the Board lead a commitment to improved health and safety. It was reported that health and safety is discussed at every Board meeting and that any accidents are discussed at this level. There is a prevailing view amongst senior managers that good health and safety is an integral part of NPIL’s general strategy for improving business performance, and that health and safety, quality and environmental sustainability are closely interlinked.

The commitment to improving health and safety at NPIL is reflected in health and safety outcomes. Lost time injuries per annum for the past two years (2011 and 2012) have been two-three. A significant reduction has been achieved since 2005, when the number stood at over 30. The biggest drop occurred in the period from 2008–2009, but this may be explained by the fact that a number of redundancies (with criteria being based on employee skill and performance) occurred over this time. There tends to be a seasonal pattern in lost time injuries (higher rates in February and August of each year) but attempts to analyse the causes of this have not been successful.

Health monitoring results for 2012 show positive trends. Respiratory results are static and generally reflect external conditions (smoking or childhood asthma) rather than occupational asthma; and hearing results have improved. Over recent years, the occupational health nurse has noted some significant improvements in general health as a result of referrals to GPs and other medical professionals. These have been made through general screening programmes conducted at work such as the “heart check” (waist measurement, blood pressure and smoking status) and fit testing.

What is working well at Nelson Pine Ltd

NPIL has an extremely high standard of practice in health and safety management. Particular areas that stood out were the operation of the health and safety representative system, and the in-depth attention that is given to embedding principles of behavioural safety.

Issues raised

It was noted by several interviewees that there is a need for an additional resource at the factory floor level to maintain momentum on health and safety improvement initiatives and to coordinate activities across each of the functional areas. Although over recent months production supervisors and shift supervisors have been meeting

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fortnightly to share ideas and discuss health and safety and staffing issues, there was a view that progress could be faster with someone more closely focussed on implementation.

Issues were raised about the lack of coordination between ACC and the Labour Inspectorate, with a perception that prosecution policies are driven from Wellington. It was argued that more attention should be given to the Department taking a more pro-active and relationship based approach to working with businesses and providing better advice and assistance.

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RAL Logging Ltd

Company RAL Logging Limited

Location visited Kiwinui Forest - Awakeri

Business structure RAL86 is a forestry logging crew contracted to Matariki Forests. Rayonier NZ Ltd is part owner and manager of Matariki Forests.

What the company does Forestry contracting

Number of employees 9 (10 including the crew owner)

Types of jobs in the company Tree falling, breaking out, spotting, hauling, log processing, quality assurance and loading.

Number of dedicated Health and Safety Staff

One


RAL Logging Ltd is contracted to Matariki Forests. Rayonier NZ Ltd is part owner and manager of Matariki Forests. The company indirectly engages up to 800 contractors throughout New Zealand. Rayonier harvests more than 2 million cubic metres of timber a year, 70% of which is sold in New Zealand and the remainder goes to international markets in Asia13.

Information on the Rayonier | Matariki Forests’ website14 states that the company is “committed to health and safety excellence … [and] place a strong emphasis on working in partnership with employees, contractors, regulators, training organisations and various industry associations to achieve high standards of safety and low injury rates.”

As part of their commitment to Health and Safety Rayonier place contractual obligations on contractors who, pre-contract, are required to confirm that they are working to health safety standards, are maintaining an effective health and safety management system, have the appropriate health and safety equipment and a good record of health and safety. The contract that is signed between Rayonier and contractors has explicit health and safety requirements, including:

• compliance with health and safety legislation and codes of practice • health and safety management system requirements including drug and

alcohol management and associated testing and rehabilitation 13 Further information can be found on http://www.matarikiforests.co.nz and http://www.rayonier.com/getattachment/Home/Fact-Sheets/New-Zealand-(1).pdf.aspx 14 http://www.matarikiforests.co.nz/about-us/

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• minimum standards of training and worker competency • hazard identification and sharing of hazard information • accident and incident reporting and investigation • forest specific work rules (e.g., forestry road use, firearms) • mobile plant fit for purpose • attendance at safety training sessions.

Once the contract is underway Rayonier conduct a pre-start work meeting that includes a safety briefing and then conduct biannual on-site safety audits to verify standards are being met. In addition to contract requirements Rayonier | Matariki also run ‘Safe Start’ breakfasts at the beginning of each year that raise awareness of start-up risks15.

Compared to other sectors that are involved with outside work, forestry has the highest fatality rate with around four people dying in forestry accidents each year. While about half of these happen outside commercial forests, most occur in the high-risk activities of tree felling and breaking out. In addition to fatalities forestry has the highest rate of serious harm incidents with around 18 for every 1000 workers16.

Ribbonwood and Arbuckle Ltd was established in 2000,with the company changing its name to RAL Logging Ltd in May 2011. During that time Director Danny Arbuckle owned and operated up to three forestry crews that specialised in logging in steep terrain. Following company restructure in May 2012, the company now only operates the one fully mechanised swing yarder hauler crew, RAL 86, which was the crew interviewed for this case study. RAL 86 harvest, grade and load timber on to trucks. The intended use of logs depends on grade. End use includes pulp and paper, construction applications, including engineered wood products and furniture manufacture. These logs are destined for domestic and export markets.

The company has developed a high media profile through winning regional and national awards for their approaches to and practices of health and safety. In 2007 they won Best Overall Contribution to Improving Workplace Health and Safety in the New Zealand Workplace Health & Safety Awards17.

“… the crew developed a radio check-in system so other crew members would quickly become aware if a faller was in trouble, a log book to record any physical, technical and emotional issues facing fallers, and a safety DVD demonstrating how emotional strain can put them at risk”.

Safeguard editor Jackie Brown-Haysom, who was a member of the judging panel, said the entry was an excellent example of frontline workers taking the initiative, not only to deal with their own safety issues, but also to produce a resource for the industry as a whole.

15 ibid 16 Forest Owners Association. New Zealand Forest Bulletin. Autumn 2012. 17 Forest crew wins top prize for workplace safety initiative. http://www.safeguard.co.nz/events/awards/finalists-2007.asp

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“The crew identified a need and developed a solution that others in their industry will relate to,” she says. “The forest environment is unforgiving and, over the years, a number of highly skilled fallers have paid the price for having an off-day.”

Over the last six years, in addition to the award outlined above, RAL 86 has taken out Rayonier’s Top Spot Awards that aim to improve the industry’s health and safety record18. These awards include winning the cable logging title in 2006, the regional crew award in 2009, and the national award in 2010 and 2012. Individual workers have also gained recognition through these awards.


RAL work under contract to Matariki Forests in the Kiwinui forestry block at Awakeri, just out of Whakatane. The crew of nine work Monday to Friday from 7.00am, although they are paid to be on site from 6.30am until 3.30pm. Overtime is worked on a needs basis and some staff also work on Saturday mornings.

The terrain worked by RAL86 is steep and difficult to access. As a result the work is heavily mechanized with up to six of the workers operating large machines. At the time of this case study the crew was working on one of the last blocks in Kiwinui forest and were in the process of developing a track into one area. The crew owner and site supervisor had just walked the bush and ridge line of the final block to scope the terrain, including finding suitable and safe places for landings.

RAL are required to adhere to the health and safety policies set out by the contract principal. Rayonier conduct random audits twice a year. These audits are extensive and include checks of the machines and equipment, hazard management, work standards, personal protective equipment (PPE), and emergency procedures. They are also spot checked by Health and Safety Inspectors from the Labour Group of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The site foreman commented that “We are not told when they are coming … we have to have what is required by the Department of Labour … we are not worried when they audit”.

Health and safety is overseen by the site foreman who is supported by a health and safety champion. The role of the champion is to promote health and safety and also to listen to the concerns of the workers who may not want to raise issues with the owner of the crew or the site foreman.

RAL has documented health and safety systems, including hazard management, training and accident reporting systems. Along with serious harm incidents they also need to report first aid incidents and near hits to Rayonier. The Health and Safety manager for Rayonier commented that RAL do this reporting well.

18 Top Spot is funded by participating forest owners and harvesting contractors. Information taken from Crew take top award http://www.whakatanebeacon.co.nz/cms/news/2011/01/art10008609.php

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Communication is central to the health and safety practices of RAL86. Each employee is equipped with a radio transmitter and is expected to have this switched on and be able to communicate at all times. This communication starts at the entry to the forest where workers are expected to report their location on the narrow road so as to avoid accidents. Particular attention is paid to communication with the tree faller who is required to check in every half hour. He is also supplied with a panic alarm that can be used if he gets into difficulty.


Rayonier hold pre-harvest meetings with their contractors. Along with discussions on the type of wood, the wood grades they expect to get, and the tonnage and rates, the harvesting hazards and the new forest plan are also discussed.

The owner of RAL and site foreman believe that planning is key to hazard identification and control. This starts with walking the bush before logging starts and continues through to the daily discussions at tailgate meetings on specific hazards encountered on a daily basis at the sites. Rayonier’s Health and Safety Manager commented that holding daily meetings is an example of good practice in the industry and is not found with every contractor or crew. “Good foreman with a strong safety ethic drive these sort of practices”.

RAL also have site-specific hazard registers. New hazards are documented and discussed at morning tailgate meetings and each worker is required to initial the hazard register. Hazards can include anything from dust on the road, which is managed by notifying drivers on the RT, through to machinery, the weather and the terrain. Hazards are viewed from the perspective of safety for self. At the tailgate meetings the plan for the day is discussed so that each worker knows what each other is doing, where they are and the grades of wood they need to cut. Those with responsibility for health and safety commented that planning was about making it safe and managing the risk, “Every day is the same, but it is different”.

An important part of isolating and minimising risk is PPE. This includes, high visibility clothing, safety helmets with flaps, ear muffs, eye protection, and job specific equipment such as chainsaw chaps (leg protection) and steel capped boots. In addition each member of the crew has an RT.

The operational risk for RAL86 is reduced because the operation is heavily mechanised. For example breaking out, which is a high-risk job and results in around 40% of all forestry accidents19, is undertaken by a hauler and grapple. A spotter is on the ridge and directs the hauler driver. This eliminates the need for men on the ground during the breaking out process.

19 Watson P, (2012). Machine designed for dangerous work. Nelson Mail. http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/features/primary-focus/6924279/Machine-designed-for-dangerous-work

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RAL has a documented procedure that covers injury and incident reporting, recording and investigation, which is detailed in a flow chart. There is also a definition of serious harm included in the procedure as well as the requirement to report all serious harm injuries to the Labour Group of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment within the required time frames, and the reporting of injuries to Rayonier.

There is a written process for corrective actions following an injury or safety issue, and the requirement to feed this information back into the hazard management system.

There are prescribed reporting forms for the investigation of all injuries. These forms are available to the crew on site.

Training

RAL has a very strong emphasis on training, from the initial induction period through to ongoing training. Training plans are developed for each new employee at the beginning of employment. Minimum requirements are set for each person, dependent on their role within the operation, as well as to meet Rayonier requirements. RAL have staff trained in all tasks. This enables them to rotate employees around every job. Where additional training requirements are identified, they are recorded at the crew safety meetings or at the management reviews, so that the information can be added to the employee’s file and new training plans developed. RAL has direct access to all employees “Records of Learning” via the Forest Industries Training and Education Council (FITEC) website. This helps to ensure up-to-date information about employees is available. RAL currently has an apprentice within the operation who has served one year of a four-year apprenticeship. He is monitored closely by a FITEC training adviser.

Rayonier also facilitates training in the areas of hazard management and accident investigation on an as required basis. This typically involves representatives of crews working in a local area coming together for a training day. In most cases these are linked to New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA) standards. Rayonier also require some minimum standards to be maintained by contractors. These include their employees attaining Forestry General Safety and Environmental Requirements, Hydration and Nutrition units and capability around Personal Safety at Vegetation Fire and First Aid. Rayonier’s crew supervisors are required to complete similar training.

The crew owner said that RAL pride themselves on giving their employees as many training opportunities as possible, where permitted. He thinks that this is a small part of why the company has very loyal employees that have been with them for many years.

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While the crew owner and two staff have responsibility for health and safety there is an expectation that the crew take responsibility for themselves and others. At the same time the culture within the crew means that workers feel comfortable to report concerns that they have through the Health and Safety Champion. The daily tailgate meetings also provide the opportunity for all workers to contribute to the health and safety practices that will be required for the day’s work.


Drug and alcohol testing is conducted pre-employment. This is followed with quarterly random testing. To promote the concept of the danger of being drug and/or alcohol impaired, RAL has recently worked with a small production company to produce a DVD about the dangers of working while under the influence. RAL has funded this themselves and used workers and their families as the actors. This follows on from the DVD they produced in 2007, which won the Safeguard Health and Safety Award for demonstrating how emotional strain can put workers at risk20. This was widely distributed to others in the industry.

Annual health checks are carried out in January of each year, by an independent health authority.


The two people with responsibility for health and safety thought that while the work could be considered dangerous, as the industry fatalities indicate, the planning and hazard identification on a daily basis go some way to minimizing this as it is not possible to eliminate and isolate the risks. They thought that the crew’s attitude to health and safety was top notch, that they were “always thinking about safety and safe ways of working” and that this thinking had been instilled from the day a worker started with the crew.

The culture of health and safety starts at induction where, as part of the induction process, hazards are discussed with new workers. The site foreman who has responsibility for health and safety, has Level 1 and 2 forestry specific health and safety qualifications and has undertaken health and safety management training. The health and safety champion who has just taken on this role will also undertake the level 1 and 2 qualifications.

Team work is seen as key to health and safety and the crew has undertaken training with the training programme Growing our safety culture21. The poster from that programme is on the wall of the workers’ hut and the owner says that it acts as a reminder to all his workers. The owner and heath and safety champion thought that 20 Focused on the future. Safeguard (May/June 2007). The DVD was partially funded by FITEC and ACC also contribute $3000 towards production and distribution costs. 21 New Zealand Forestry Bulletin. Autumn 2010. Renewed safety effort is getting results. http://www.forestenterprises.co.nz/fgen/nzforestrybulletin/forestry_bulletin_winter_2010.pdf

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key to changing the thinking of the workers in relation to health and safety was the concept of “scratches on your lenses”. The idea behind this is that workers have ideas etched in their mind about the way things are normally done and it is hard to get rid of bad practice. Therefore they need to change their thinking and keep an open mind about a better way to do things.

The site foreman believes the culture of health and safety is supported by the culture of listening that operates within the team and that as a supervisor he needs to be able to understand what the problem is and how it should be managed. He cited an example of the tree faller having to work in the vicinity of the tree hauler and the danger posed by the ropes. In RAL86 this risk is eliminated by the tree faller making the call about working away from the hauler when the ropes are getting too close.

Commitment to health and safety is reinforced at the start of each year when the crew attends the Rayonier | Matariki ‘Safe Start’ breakfast seminars. Rayonier’s managing director commented that the seminars are designed to “Celebrate our past safety successes, review and discuss any areas where we could improve and take a proactive approach to managing safety in the coming year … The focus is always on taking ownership, cutting out risk and making good decisions, and showing all staff the pathway to doing this22”.

Rayonier’s Health and Safety manager describes RAL’s health and safety record as outstanding. He believes this is as a result of the leadership shown by the crew owner and the respect he has for his men, the “awesome” crew culture, the willingness of the crew to look out for each other, speak up and solve problems. He also credited the crew owner’s partner with “keeping the boys on their toes”.

What is working well at RAL

RAL has a very high standard of practice in health and safety management and practice, and holds ACC Tertiary Level Accreditation. Particular areas that stood out were the leadership of the crew owner, the detailed approach to hazard identification and control and the daily tailgate meetings where site-specific hazards were identified and discussed. In addition to this RAL has taken leadership in the forestry industry through its production of DVDs about safe workplace practices in the forest environment and its success in national health and safety awards.

22 Safety first for forest specialists www.voxy.co.nz/business/safety-first-forestry-specialists/1861/77676

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Hayes International Ltd

Company Hayes International Limited

Location visited Rotorua

Business structure Hayes International operates on a single site in New Zealand and operates as part of the Bradbury Group (Bradbury Co., Inc) of manufacturing companies23.

What the company does Hayes International specializes in the design and manufacture of rollforming machinery


Types of jobs in the company Design, various stages of manufacturing (including sheet metal working, fitting, welding, machining), assembling, and packaging


One

Background and context Hayes International operates on a single site in Rotorua. It currently employs 70 staff who are involved with the design and manufacture of rollforming machinery for the production of roofing and wall cladding profiles, structural sections such as CEE and ZED purlin, long length power folding machines and a wide range of associated metalworking equipment”24. The employees work in all stages of the manufacturing process, including, design, various stages of manufacturing (including sheet metal working, fitting, welding, machining) assembling, and packaging for national and international markets.


The Business Systems / Human Resources Manager, who reports to the Managing Director has responsibility for health and safety. She is supported by a Health and Safety Committee, two trained Accident Investigators, trained Fire Wardens and First Aiders and three Approved Handlers for Hazardous Substances.

23 http://www.bradburygroup.com/bradbury-aboutUs.cfm 24 http://www.hayesint.co.nz

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The Health and Safety Management Policy Statement outlines the objectives that Hayes International has for a healthy and safe work place. The three objectives are to:

• Implement and actively maintain a positive commitment to health and safety in the workplace for the protection of all personnel and visitors from injury and illness

• Implement and actively maintain a continuous improvement programme that supports ongoing employee and union consultation and participation in all areas of health and safety management

• Ensure that all areas of health and safety are considered in the relevant purchasing and design decisions.

The one page policy statement, written in plain English, is reviewed annually and signed by the Managing Director. It outlines the responsibilities that management, supervisors and employees have to ensure that safe practices are adhered to.

A quality procedures document, “Occupational Safety and Health Processes and Procedures” describes how the company controls occupational health and safety in the workplace to provide and maintain a safe working environment for staff and visitors, by regular hazard awareness programmes, and accurate reporting and recording of hazards and accidents/incidents. The document is supported by a number of policies and practices including, safe operating procedures (SOPs) for each piece of equipment that include a hazard risk assessment and the controls that are required, a hazard register, an incident reporting system, an accident investigation system, a training system and quarterly reporting.

Hayes International is part of the ACC’s Workplace Safety Management Practices programme and sit at the tertiary discount level.


As noted above Hayes International has a well-documented Hazard ID register. It includes the hazard, its ranking and significance, whether or not it is practicable to eliminate, isolate or minimise it, the controls required, when the hazard was last reviewed and the frequency of reviews. An example in the register is hearing loss from exposure to noisy machinery. The hazard is considered:

• Extreme • Significant • Not practicable to eliminate or isolate • Practicable to minimise

The required control, aligned to the Approved Code of Practice, is identified as needing to wear correct personal protective equipment (PPE) for the task; have regular health monitoring for factory staff; have education, supervisions and training in the safe use of hearing protection; and the employer is to take all practical steps to ensure no employee is exposed to noise in excess of the exposure limits.

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The workers commented that in relation to noise they are provide with ear muffs or ear plugs and wear these in the areas where there is excessive noise or when they are told that excessive noise is about to start, for example the opening of containers.

SOPs also detail the potential hazards associated with each piece of machinery. The hazard risk assessment attached to each SOP outlines the controls required when using the machines.

There are two systems for reporting accidents and workers are expected to report everything. The first system is for the reporting of minor incidents e.g., cuts caused by swarf. These incidents are not investigated as they are seen as part of the job as workers are not able to wear gloves when using the machinery because these could get caught and drag their hand into the machine. However, these minor incidents are reported through a one-line entry in a book that sits beside the first aid box. The information required includes, the name, the date, the injury and what was used from the box. The books are checked every quarter and the information graphed and shared with the workers. All other accidents are reported using the standard Accident Report Form and handed to the Health and Safety Manager to follow up with investigation and controls.


The seriousness of an accident is determined by a matrix. When an accident is deemed more serious than minor, the second system is used. This involves the investigation of accidents by one of the Safety Committee whose role it is to investigate the accidents such as sprains or strains, but those interviewed reported that there are very few of these. For serious harm accidents, workers said they know how to freeze the scene for example by turning off machines and the company has a separate set of forms that the trained accident investigators use to conduct these investigations.

Training

Training is an important part of the company culture. There is an expectation on the part of the company that all employees will take part in health and safety training, such as the National Certificate in Health and Safety Level 1, attend the annual health and safety refresher course and fire evacuation procedure training. The annual refresher runs in January when workers return from their holidays and serves as a reminder about safe workplace practices and the company’s focus on health and safety. In addition the company has an annual training programme related to health and safety in specialist areas of the company’s operation, for example, Working Safety at Heights, Forklift training, Gantry Crane training.


Hayes International works through a participatory approach to health and safety representation whereby employees from each department take their turn on a yearly basis to be on the Health and Safety Committee. In the focus groups the workers indicated that they like this process and see it as part of everyone’s responsibility.

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This approach means that every worker has the opportunity to participate in a formal health and safety role. Those who work in smaller departments get more opportunities than those in larger departments. Employees get the opportunity to vote on this participatory approach on an annual basis and vote to maintain this as opposed to having other forms of representation. The site is not strongly unionised, with only four workers belonging to the collective.

Health and Safety Committee meetings are held at least quarterly. Minutes from the October 2012 meeting showed items that had been carried forward from the September meeting included, for example, reducing risk on the stairs to the lunch room that get slippery when wet and also as a result of coolant and oil on people’s boots. The hazard is going to be controlled by stair nosings that are bright yellow and non slip. Other items discussed included:

• new health and safety issues, for example the exposure of factory staff to paint particles. While there had been no complaints from staff and the filters are changed on a regular basis there was still a need for staff to report if they had serious concerns

• upcoming training on hearing protection; eye protection; and respiratory protection

• reports on lost time injury and accident statistics showing that it had been 71 days since the last accident and there had been three days lost time for injuries for the first nine months of the year

• issues that had been signed off, including the Safety Culture Survey recommendations and the issues that needed to be discussed further in relation to rewards and recognition of safety performance; the start up procedure required for each gantry crane; policies that had been reviewed by senior management; and a review of the heath and safety statistics from January to July that showed 92% of accidents were first aid injuries that required either no treatment or a plaster or cream.

Workers also get the opportunity to contribute to health and safety at the daily “haka” meetings and there are also monthly health and safety discussions at the end of the toolbox meetings. This usually takes the form of information about what has happened or changed. Employees said they were particularly interested in this especially when it relates to suggestions they have offered or when they have expressed concerns about particular aspects of health and safety. There is an expectation that something will be done as a result of this. One worker commented that this information “sharpens you up”. The manager commented that the workers like to see the loop closed.

Employees are also provided with the opportunity to volunteer and train for a variety of roles within the health and safety system. For example there are 10 qualified in first aid; 10 fire wardens and back ups; and three are approved handlers for hazardous substances.

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As per Hayes International policy, health and safety is seen as a company and individual responsibility and as such is also part of each employee’s annual performance review.

The participatory nature of health and safety was described by one of the supervisors as being “bottom up rather than top down”. This approach includes being open about everything related to health and safety and involving all staff. The supervisors thought that this inclusive approach was the reason it worked so well and that the workers are prepared to take ownership.

Ownership extends to being proactive about issues and how to solve them. This can take the form of reporting issues and how to resolve them to a foreman or filling out a Corrective Action Request (CAR) form. Filling out the CAR form means the request gets into the system and is discussed by managers on a bi-monthly basis. Ownership also extends to taking responsibility for small hazards, for example cleaning up spills or escalating to a foreman if the hazard is seen as more serious, e.g., exposed leads or the way in which things in the factory are stored.


Employees are supplied with the appropriate PPE for their jobs, e.g., ear muffs or plugs, safety glasses, boots, masks. All the workers commented that there was never an issue getting the equipment they needed. If they want equipment that is above the level/specification of that provided by the company, the company contributes towards the cost. The company also allows employees to make decisions about equipment should they believe they need it. A worker gave the example a job where he was spraying lanolin. While it was not deemed harmful he chose to wear a mask. “It is personal preference – you ask and you get … [so] there is no excuse for not having gear”.

The environment is also monitored. For example there are noise checks and air checks. Employees’ health is also monitored though annual health checks of eyes, hearing, breathing, blood pressure and weight.


The information from interviews with the Business Systems/HR Manager, supervisors and workers show that Hayes International has a strong health and safety culture. This has been built up over time. It starts at induction where new employees are provided with personalised induction packages that include all the company’s general health and safety information as well as the areas pertinent to their work.

One of the workers thought it was ingrained into the business. Another thought that the business takes it very seriously, “it is drummed into us [therefore] you are an idiot if you do something [stupid] … It is good to have health and safety as part of the norm … [but] it does come down to the individual looking after themselves as there are machines going a 100 miles an hour and swarf flying everywhere”. And another worker commented that health and safety in the workplace is a good thing, that while

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he was a bit resistant to start with, it is definitely beneficial “you notice the differences in the [accident] graphs”.

While the workers commented that health and safety is part of the way they work they also thought that health and safety was basic common sense given the nature of the machines and materials they work with. For example a machinist commented that the machines he works with have guards and that because of the swarf flying around it is common sense to wear safety glasses.

The supervisors commented that the health and safety message is drilled into them from the first day, “You only have one set of eyes and ears – so take care of them”. This was reinforced by comments from the workers, one of whom said, “I want to go home at the end of the day – all of me!”

Most of those interviewed thought that safety came before production. One of the workers commented that “generally speaking, everything was done the safe way rather than the fast way”. The manager commented that workers are encouraged to wait for equipment rather than try and lift things by themselves.

The manager described the approach to health and safety as practical, sensible and flexible. The practical approach comes from the manager’s thinking that health and safety needs to be practical and people need to see a reason for it. This approach means that there can be differing approaches in different areas of the factory – for example where people work by themselves they are allowed to wear radio earmuffs, but they are not allowed to do this where they work in twos or where there are cranes.

It might also be reflective of an attitude to health and safety that has changed over time. One of workers who has just returned to his trade after some time away commented that “What you used to be called a hero for, you are now called stupid”. He thought this was a change for the better, and that while some of it seems over the top, this is a good thing.

The manager commented there is a need to be both reactive and proactive. The latter approach is promoted at Hayes International and workers are encouraged to provide suggestions about how to improve health and safety. The example was given of an employee who, after attending the health and safety refresher course, suggested the setting up of a visual barrier around a potentially hazardous area. In keeping with the culture of communication the workers interviewed knew about this suggestion, agreed with it and knew that it was going to be actioned.

Contractors

Contractors/sub-contractors undertaking work on site complete an annual induction, which covers all specific hazards they may be exposed to, emergency and evacuation procedures, hazard identification and accident reporting. They are also required to sign a contract and are advised that they are responsible for the management of any hazards that they create on site. They also sign to confirm that they are aware and can comply with their responsibilities under the Health and Safety

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in Employment Act 1992. Contractor inductions are carried out by the Health and Safety Manager or Department Head where the contractor will be working.

What is working well at Hayes International

Hayes International has a very high standard of practice in health and safety management. Particular areas that stood out were management leadership, the participatory nature of the health and safety representative system, the detailed approach to hazard identification and control, and the attention that is given to ensuring that everyone understands that they have responsibility for health and safety in the work place, including contractors.

Issues raised

No issues were commented on by staff at Hayes International. The manager commented that as a company they are always looking at continuous improvement and as such look to improve health and safety performance each year. “We will never say ‘yippee, we have finally got to the finish line’ as there is always room for improvement”.

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Goodman Fielder NZ Ltd

Company Goodman Fielder NZ Ltd


Business structure Goodman Fielder NZ is a wholly owned subsidiary of Goodman Fielder Ltd, which is a publicly listed company. The company has Australasian coverage with around 50 manufacturing sites across Australia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New Caledonia, parts of Asia and New Zealand. 15 NZ manufacturing sites across four hubs (dairy, meat, baking and bread)

What the company does Food manufacturing

Number of employees Over 2000 permanent and 1000 temporary employees in NZ

Types of jobs in company Executive management, manufacturing management, manufacturing plant operators, administration, engineering, packing, distribution, sales


One national and 21 SH&E (Safety, Health and Environment) people, with an additional 3 forming the in-house Injury Management Team. Goodman Fielder has contracted occupational health nurse services.


In 2009 Goodman Fielder celebrated its centenary year. Goodman, the NZ arm of the business established Quality Bakers in 1968 with Fielder, the Australian founder, incorporating Geo. Fielder & Co. Ltd in New South Wales in 1909. Goodman Fielder formed from a merger in 1968 and has, through a series of mergers, acquisitions and divestments, become NZ’s largest branded food manufacturer and the leading publicly listed food company in Australia and New Zealand today. It manufactures and delivers well known NZ consumer brands including Molenberg, Nature’s Fresh, Freya’s, Vogel’s, Meadow Fresh, Meadow Lea, Olivani, Tararua, Puhoi Valley, Kiwi Bacon, Edmonds, Irvines and Ernest Adams.

Over the last two years Goodman Fielder has undergone significant restructuring across the NZ and Australian businesses, with the three NZ business units of Baking, Dairy & Meats and Home Ingredients merged into one. This allowed for the development of a more consistent structure and approach to health and safety that sees significant risks better managed, lessons learnt more easily shared and a

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clearer understanding of what success looks like communicated and developed across the business.

The Nelson site visited is one of Goodman Fielder Ltd’s seven bread manufacturing sites and there are around 30 employees on site. Health and safety management systems

A full occupational health and safety management system has been developed to operate across Goodman Fielder. It incorporates more than 60 different documents that set out procedures, responsibilities and accountabilities. All managers attend a 3-day workshop on the safety management system, its implementation and what it means for managers. Both lead (performance driver) indicators and lag (performance outcome) indicators are incorporated into a national scorecard on safety, health and environmental (SHE) management. The scorecard is utilised by Goodman Fielder to focus on the lead measures to improve safety, health and environmental performance and highlight areas where learning’s can be shared and mentoring or training provided.

The Goodman Fielder Safety Management System (SMS) is based on AS/NZS4801 and builds off a model incorporating policy, planning, implementing, monitoring, measuring and reviewing (the Deming Wheel). Goodman Fielder are also accredited at a tertiary level under the ACC Partnership Programme. The Goodman Fielder OSH policy sets out the intent which guides or influences future decisions for the SMS. It forms the basis for objectives and targets of the systems. The overarching procedures developed by Goodman Fielder provide clear guidance for operational sites. At each site a SH&E activity plan, risk register and corrective action plan are key tools for ensuring people are held accountable.

Processes at a site level include at least monthly WALK and TALK programmes. WALK is about promoting behavioural safety. WALK, an acronym for Watch/observe; Ask questions; Listen actively; Keep safe is the process used to reinforce safe behaviours and behaviours that reduce environmental impacts with all employees through observation and discussion, and to change behaviours which are unsafe, inappropriate or do not follow agreed procedures25.

A WALK is conducted by observing the way in which employees, contractors or visitors are completing their tasks and discussing with them ways to make their jobs safer and/or reduce impacts to the environment. A WALK form must be completed to formally record the discussion and any associated actions or recommendations that are agreed upon during the discussion.

TALK is Goodman Fielder’s linked communication process through which SH&E related information is transmitted up and down all levels of the organisation.

TALKs are conducted by teams of employees (including labour hires), meeting to openly discuss SH&E issues and risks with their manager. The manager and team

25 Communication Procedure

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work through solutions to these issues or risks and raise these issues within their team and to their manager, and so on, all the way up the line. The manager is responsible for passing relevant information from up-line meetings to their team to ensure information flows to the sites26. The SMS loop is completed by management review processes at regular intervals and includes review of documentation on SH& E indicators. This then supports continual improvement through the SMS.

Every new employee at Goodman Fielder completes a 45 minute on-line induction process covering Safety, Health, Environmental, Quality, Security, Employee Assistance Programmes, etc. This also includes specific inductions for each designated area of work, covering the specific hazards, emergency and quality procedures on that site. Observation of new employees is also carried out over a new hire’s first six weeks. Contractors are required to complete a similar induction programme and both groups of workers undertake a refresher induction every two years.

As one measure of the seriousness with which SH&E is taken at Goodman Fielder, employees advised that money was no issue on SH&E matters; ‘if it needs doing, it gets done.’


Managers and supervisors have the primary responsibility for recording all reported hazards into the Goodman Fielder Hazard Management Database. Further, they are responsible for ensuring all actions allocated on risk assessments have an appropriate timeframe for completion. All employees and contractors are responsible for reporting hazards and participating in risk assessments as required27. Goodman Fielder sites require a co-ordinated and systematic approach to the process of hazard identification as they have a range of plant, chemical and other potentially hazardous work processes. A risk assessment process is also used to evaluate and estimate the risks associated with an identified hazard. A person trained and assessed as competent in the approved risk assessment programme and a representative from the work area must be involved in assessing the risk of any hazard.

Any controls put in place to manage a hazard are also evaluated after a reasonable time period to ensure ongoing effectiveness. Goodman Fielder provides at least annual training to all employees on hazard identification and risk assessment that includes a review of employee understanding28.

One employee at the Nelson bakery commented that some of the younger guys might “think they know it all” while another viewpoint expressed that some older employees can sometimes be more resistant to change, for example by disagreeing with requirements around wearing PPE.

26 Communication Procedure 27 Hazard and Risk Management Procedure 28 Hazard and Risk Management & Training & Competency Procedures

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The Nelson site have CCTV installed in the plant, and while this was originally for security purposes, it has been used to check employee safe work practices and gather evidence where poor practice has resulted in safety concerns. This has been important for enforcing rules of behaviour, and in some cases has resulted in workers receiving warnings or other disciplinary action. Largely, managers at the Nelson site say this has been the result of deliberate risk taking behaviour.

From a machinery perspective Goodman Fielder mentioned that some newer machinery isn’t always as good as older models and this means there is quite a bit of work in rebuilding machines and ensuring that they continue to be safe. Machine safety continues to be something that requires vigilance however it is believed that this is an ongoing process. For example, a worker got his finger stuck in a machine that had already undergone guarding audits by an external auditor. It was identified during the investigation that the auditor may not have viewed this particular action as it occurs infrequently and this highlighted the need for internal expertise in machine guarding audits. After the incident investigation the guarding was strengthened. Goodman Fielder have also completed training for a select group of their employees in the AS4024 Safety of Machinery Standards and now have them working alongside the external auditors to gain further experience.

While hazard identification and control on Goodman Fielder sites can be complex, even greater complexity can arise for sales and distribution elements of the business where a number of areas of risk are less controllable e.g. vehicles on the road, the practices in different supermarkets or storage facilities. Throughout sales and distribution, particularly in relation to the “Fast Moving Consumer Goods” (FMCG) sector there is considerable economic pressure to maximise market share and keep costs down. This can result in attempts to engage in cost shifting between organisations. Goodman Fielder employees going on to other’s sites need to be highly aware of changed requirements or hazards in those facilities. Goodman Fielder offers a National certificate to a select group of these organisations in order to support the management of risks within these elements of the business.


Goodman Fielder procedures for incident reporting apply to all employees, contractors and visitors. They support prompt, effective investigation of incidents and the generation of corrective/preventative actions. Like other procedures reviewed, these clearly set out responsibilities for actions, and include a checklist for procedural compliance, guidance on categorising the incident, and internal communication requirements. Further, the expectation that all incidents and injuries must be reported immediately is supported with a rationale for how such reporting contributes to reduce future injuries and losses29. Goodman Fielder expect that for each serious incident reported, that three near miss incidents should be reported to indicate effectiveness in the system. Site/Functional SH&E employees are notified of incidents and may provide technical advice and assistance to Supervisors as they conduct their incident investigations.

29 Incident Reporting and Recording Procedure

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Workers were aware of the processes and procedures for incident reporting. However, it was highlighted that the Nelson site, which had not had an incident for some years, recently had an incident occur where the set procedures were not followed correctly, which only demonstrates that even where good systems and processes exist, accidents do happen, and people can become complacent and not always adequately follow procedures.

Training

An annual site training needs analysis is conducted by Supervisors, Managers and SH&E employees ahead of the development and implementation of their annual training plan. This is to support continual improvement and competency development. Managers at the Nelson site say that training makes a difference to the competency of workers and it is rarely lack of training that an incident can be attributed to. However, Goodman Fielder have identified learning and understanding difficulties and have implemented literacy programmes targeted at Supervisor/Team leader and operator levels, with a specific focus on SH&E.

Effective training records are important to Goodman Fielder to enable assessments of the effective implementation of training. All employees/contractors must be formally trained in all relevant SOPs for each piece of plant operation and cleaning process which they are to be involved in. A ‘buddy’ system is also adopted to ensure a trained and competent employee is overseeing a newer staff member and liaising with the Manager/supervisor in relation to the new employees’ competence level

Goodman Fielder noted a real gap in the New Zealand market in terms of SH&E specialists with experience, competence and qualifications. The gap is felt most keenly where one of those elements is absent – for example, where someone had health and safety management qualifications but little industry or environmental experience. Efforts to support new/existing employees for example, in SH&E roles is being approached through a continued professional development programme with coaching to lift capability.

Goodman Fielder supports the training of Health and Safety representatives.


A number of employees talked of their view that awareness and proactive safety behaviour had risen in recent years at Goodman Fielder. They felt the WALK and TALK processes, and the requirement on all staff to participate in actions had been a part of this.

Employees approached the site SH&E representative and there were positive working relationships between the site SH&E employee and management. The SH&E employee felt a ‘hard but kind’ approach worked well for both encouraging safety behaviour amongst other workers, and in any approach to management.

Goodman Fielder takes a proactive approach to ensuring employees who faced language or literacy challenges were well supported to understand SH&E matters, including voicing the importance of an inclusive workplace.

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Managers at Goodman Fielder, while acknowledging there was some distance to go in ensuring safety behaviour was as consistent as desired, also talked of the need for employers to observe and manage poor behaviour. Sometimes, as one manager said “Employees will seek to normalise poorer behaviour as they think employers will approve”. Demonstrating intolerance then for equipment failure, or inadequate training for workers or poor SOP’s keeps the messages clear about safety.

Two unions are represented at the Nelson site and while the union is said to be supportive of SH&E efforts at the site, the main union involvement to date has been in responding to consultation on SH&E policies around ‘just cause’ and pre-employment testing.

Workers at the Nelson site talked with interest about opportunities taken to go to other sites to see how similar processes are managed. This was seen as useful for stimulating further onsite action and review. Pride was also expressed in having felt their site had set a standard to beat through their success with winning a company wide (NZ, Australia and APAC) Goodman Fielder performance recognition award two years running.

Contractors/supply chain

As mentioned above, the hazards identified as most difficult to manage for Goodman Fielder are those that sit in environments outside of its direct control. In the case of supermarkets, for example, store managers might make changes that advanced their own interests in increasing sales, but might have consequences for employees working for suppliers. Goodman Fielder is interested in taking a joint approach to safety management and to ensure that common standards are in place across the industry that protect employees working for employers in different parts of the supply chain. This includes having a representative on the FGC (Food & Grocery Council) H&S committee and holding regular discussions with these customers which include SH&E matters.

On site supply chain hazards include forklifts, pallet management, loading/unloading, chemicals and food safety. Generally these interactions are well controlled with problems tending to occur where the pace of work is too quick and where operators become distracted.

Addressing SH&E issues across the supply chain is made difficult due to multiple and in some cases ad hoc systems, financial pressure on organisations seeking to remain viable and so taking an approach that is about compliance or as mentioned by one employee ‘butt-covering’ rather than always focused on effectiveness. There was also a view expressed that the level of bureaucracy required of small firms (such as pest control) could be reduced through for example, greater use of a national database that records firm safety data.


Goodman Fielder employees have regular health monitoring checks relating to identified hazards for hearing, eyesight, lung function and in some cases cholesterol

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and blood pressure, with assistance available as necessary for issues such as smoking cessation.


Senior managers were quick to acknowledge that some sites have a stronger health and safety culture than others. This, they said, comes down to leadership on site and to knowing what good systems look like in practice. It’s clear that the issues that get attention are those that are seen as important by people in that workplace. This means that where beliefs and attitudes are complacent about SH&E (e.g. “It’s how we’ve always done it”), it becomes harder to keep a strong focus on SH&E.

That said, there was the view that improved consistency and standardisation of processes are key drivers for the company. One manager who had worked extensively overseas commented that a key issue in New Zealand was that some people did not have a picture in their head about what “good” looked like.

On the whole employees at the Nelson site acknowledged efforts to lift the game on SH&E in recent years. This has included support for a ‘no blame’ reporting culture and a focus on checking for systems and hardware failures before affixing behavioural blame. This has helped get employees to report issues earlier and increase near miss reporting. A second area of focus has concerned a more proactive approach to employees acting to address issues straight away. Workers are acting on what they see, engaging with their workmates more and working together to resolve safety issues. “The standard you walk past is the standard you set” is how one staff member put it.

Employees and management reported that health and safety are taken seriously; issues are raised all the time; they are dealt with – often before they even come up at a meeting and there was a confidence amongst employees that management are behind the company view that “Safety Matters; The people you work for are waiting for you at home”.

Factors that have assisted in developing a more proactive and engaged culture at the Nelson bakery are the low turnover of employees, the relatively small size of the plant and the high number of permanent workers. This has helped support a sense of the collective and concern for each other.

What is working well at Goodman Fielder

• Transnational system that standardises processes and procedures across all sites and allows learning to occur

• An open style of communication between managers and employees at the Nelson bakery

• Significant resource is put into management of the health and safety system, including the employment of dedicated health and safety employee’s at each site

• Looking at issues across the supply chain.

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Tauranga City Council

Organisation Tauranga City Council

Location visited Tauranga

Business structure Local Government

What the organisation does Local Authority, delivering an extremely wide range of services to local ratepayers


Types of jobs in the organisation Librarians, project managers, facilities managers, property managers, operators, clerical and administrative staff, contact centre and customer Service roles, engineers


One


The Tauranga City Council is one of twelve city councils and 78 local body organisations in New Zealand. Its staff deliver services, facilities and projects following the direction set by elected members. The organisation is structured into five business units as follows:

City Directions Strategic Planning, Policy Development, Corporate Planning, Environmental Policy, Communications, City Partnership Programme, Human Resources, Maori Liaison (Takawaenga), Democracy and Civic Services, Economic Development, Arts & Heritage, CBD & Neighbourhood Centre Revitalisation.

City Transportation Roading Asset Management, Network Operations and Road Safety, Transport Planning, Solid Waste Services, Waste Recycling and Reduction.

City Services Asset Development, Hazardous Substances, Land Data Management, Project Services, Library Services, Water Services, Parks and Leisure, Civil Defence and Emergency Management.

Business Services Financial and Treasury Management, Legal Services, Business Solutions, Business Information Management, Airport, Venues and Events, Strategic Property, Property Consultancy, Elder Housing, Cemetery and Crematorium, Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park, Marine Facilities,

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Public Toilets, Village on 17th Avenue.

Customer and Environmental Services

Animal Services, Building Services, Customer Services, Environmental Planning, Parking Enforcement, Tauranga Safe City Co-ordination, Gambling Consents, Environmental Health, Liquor, Bylaws and District Plan Compliance, Crime Prevention (security cameras, graffiti, vandalism).

As can be seen from this table, the range of activities in which staff are engaged is extremely diverse.

The Council is currently going through a period of uncertainty, with a restructuring process underway under the leadership of the interim Chief Executive. Currently, 522 full time equivalent staff (FTEs) are employed, but under the restructuring proposals this number is expected to drop to 477. This change reflects the loss of 36 FTEs, disestablishment of 19 FTEs that are currently vacant and 9.5 new FTEs being added.

The demographic profile of staff employed by the Council, as indicated by an organisational profile completed in June 2011, generally reflects the local population. Staff age is somewhat older than the New Zealand average but this is in line with the trend towards an ageing workforce. Around 70% of council employees identify as Pakeha/NZ European. Turnover is average, with 23% of staff having been employed by the Council for less than two years.

The Council has adopted a Customer Service Strategy, the primary focus of which is “People First”. One of the goals of this strategy is to support and empower staff to provide outstanding service every time.


Tauranga City Council has been building its health and safety systems and culture for the past four years. Over that time a number of changes have been made, the most significant of which have included appointing a dedicated safety and wellbeing advisor, commissioning a review of health and safety by an expert external consultant, making management accountabilities for health and safety more robust, and developing a health and safety strategic plan for 2012-2015. Together, these initiatives have resulted in a shift in culture around health and safety. While considerable progress has been made, there is still some way to go. There are many pockets of excellence at Tauranga City Council, but practice is variable across the organisation. It is evident that there are pockets of resistance to change and a number of challenges still face the organisation.

The 2012-2015 strategic plan was developed following the review of health and safety that was completed in 2012. The goals of the plan are to:

o Incorporate safety and risk into planning, decision-making, procurement and maintenance processes

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o Integrate contractor safety management into the business, evidenced through contractor selection, monitoring and review processes

o Increase management and employee awareness of, commitment to and involvement in safety and health to effect positive change in the workplace culture.

Each of these strategic goals includes lower level objectives and identified activities. These will be assessed to determine whether the strategic goals have been achieved.

The Council is accredited at tertiary level under the ACC Workplace Safety Management Practices (WSMP) programme. It is also involved in a Bay of Plenty/Waikato wide health and safety forum.


The range of work undertaken at Tauranga City Council is extremely varied and ranges from work that involves significant and major hazards, through to those that are relatively minor. The responsibility for identifying and assessing hazards lies with managers and health and safety representatives, who undertake a risk analysis that considers the probability and consequences of the hazards. The hazard register is included in a database and monitored on a regular basis.

Those interviewed considered that the hazard identification process was working very well. Most regular hazards had good systems in place for control. Some of the issues that arose around hazard control were related to unexpected weather events (given that a lot of activities are conducted outside), managing volunteers in Council-run activities and events taking place in Council facilities where these are managed by members of the public or community groups. In some areas, toolbox meetings had been started on a regular basis and has proved useful in ensuring staff have a day-to-day consciousness about hazards and processes for their control.


Health and safety policy guidelines require all incidents and near misses (and early discomfort) to be reported to a supervisor or manager immediately, and that person is responsible for completing a record of the incident that is entered into the Council database. All reports must be investigated, and may be formal or informal depending on the severity. Investigations are generally undertaken by a team of people including the injured person, a health and safety representative, the supervisor or manager, the Council Safety and Wellbeing Advisor and any witnesses. At the end of an investigation an incident report is completed that includes findings, causal analysis and corrective actions. Responsibility for corrective action is allocated to individuals, with a date for completion. This information is entered into a database and regular monitoring is undertaken to ensure that progress is made on implementation. Management reviews also take place to ensure that learnings from an individual incident are also applied in other areas of the Council where that condition is relevant.

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There is a high level of confidence amongst health and safety representatives and managers that incidents are reported. One manager noted that he expected to be notified of anything “… more significant than a trip on the stairs” and the Safety and Wellbeing Advisor is confident that all serious harm incidents and incidents involving lost time injuries were being recorded. Two issues were identified, however, as being ones that staff and managers had concerns about.

The first of these was in relation to reporting of near misses. The threshold for what constitutes a near miss was not always clear to staff, and in some cases they were not sure whether it should be reported or not. In addition, the same paper work needs to be completed for near misses as it does for incidents and accidents. It was clear from interviews across the Council that the amount of paper work involved in reporting on near misses is resulting in considerable under-reporting. While staff could understand why a new focus on reporting near misses was important, a number were of the view that this constituted an excessive degree of “bureaucracy”.

The second issue that was raised in relation to reporting was in regard to the responsibility for reporting of accidents/incidents/near misses for contractors. Systems for large and costly projects were generally robust with excellent processes in place for ensuring that Council managers are fully informed about any health and safety issues that have occurred in the course of work that has been commissioned by the Council.

Training

New staff at Tauranga City Council participate in a compulsory corporate induction during which all health and safety information is delivered. They are also provided with an employee handbook, which includes simplified information on matters covered in the Health and Safety Policy and Procedures Manual. This includes employer and employee rights and responsibilities, the roles and responsibilities of health and safety representatives and who they are for their area, health and safety committees’ structure, accident/incident/near miss reporting guidelines, identification and management of hazards and emergency procedures.

In the past, it has been left up to managers to undertake a job-specific induction, but the level of compliance with this was low. This induction is now completed by a health and safety representative, who takes a new person through a detailed checklist of specific items that are relevant to their work area (such as specific hazards, location of first aid kits and so on). This is signed by the employee and recorded on the employee’s training record. The Council has recently completed a full re-induction programme and is now confident that 95% of people have completed their health and safety induction.

The Council also encourages on-going training in safe work practices and training in health and safety issues that are relevant to specific jobs. These include training courses as varied as Customer Conflict Awareness, Working at Heights, Workplace First Aid, Manual Handling, Dog Bite Presentation, Bullying and Harassment, and Dealing with Armed Holdups. In some work areas specific hazards have been

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identified, with training established as a hazard control. Staff in those areas must undertake required training (e.g. Permit to Work, confined space, height) and are also required to maintain any licences and certificates required for their day-to-day activities. The Council also encourages staff to complete workplace health and safety training, and is now developing manager training on their obligations under the Health and Safety in Employment Act.


The Council has a network of around 30 health and safety representatives, spread across all services. The Safety and Wellbeing Advisor described them as his “eyes and ears” and attributed the progress that had been made in health and safety over recent years to the effective operation of the health and safety representatives.

The responsibilities of health and safety representatives are to:

• Foster positive health and safety management practices in the workplace • Identify and bring to attention hazards in the workplace and assist with

controlling hazards • Provide an alternative contact for staff to raise H&S issues • Monitor and encourage early reporting of discomfort and prompt reporting of

incidents • Contribute to incident investigations, participate in group and/or corporate

health and safety committees meetings • Share the outcome of meetings and promote wellness initiatives • Liaise closely with managers in their area and the Safety and Wellbeing

advisor • Look for and reward positive performance.

In actuality, the role of health and safety representatives has largely been coaching and training of their colleagues around health and safety, and identifying issues that need to be addressed.

All health and safety representatives have completed training at Level 1. An increased number of representatives has been encouraged over recent years as evidenced by the fact that around half have completed their training since 2010.

Over the top of the health and safety representatives system are two health and safety committees. Group health and safety committees are comprised of all those health and safety representatives in a particular area and consider:

• outstanding issues from previous meetings • incidents • safety audits completed, observations and corrective actions • hazard management including any new hazards identified • corporate health and safety feedback • positive feedback • new issues and issues to take to the Corporate Health and Safety

Committee.

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The Corporate Health and Safety Committee is chaired by the Council’s Safety and Wellbeing Advisor and is made up of representatives from each of the Council’s service units. This group reviews reports from groups, discusses any significant incidents, considers issues that are relevant to the Annual Plan and identifies issues to take to group health and safety meetings. This means that communication about relevant health and safety issues is channelled both up and down the organisation.

The Corporate Committee is predominantly made up of group health and safety representatives although the health and safety manual requires a manager presence at the Corporate Committee. No more than three out of the seven members of the Committee are managers.


Occupational health monitoring is undertaken for specific employee groups who are exposed to particular hazards, specifically where an employee could become exposed to noise, hepatitis A & B and tetanus. An occupational health nurse is available to all employees for two days a month for services such as free health checks, subsidised physiotherapy, and free flu vaccination. As a result of this, a number of staff have been referred to their GPs for more detailed discussions.

The Council has also moved towards a more all-encompassing approach to employee well-being. The Bay of Plenty DHB runs “Work Well” wellness programmes and the Council is a participant in this, having set up a “Wellness Group” to establish the Council wellbeing programme. As part of this programme the Council takes a wider view of wellbeing and offers discounted health insurance, gym membership, back and neck massages and assistance with financial planning. Some of these services are offered free to employees and others are offered at subsidised rates.

Bullying, harassment and stress are issues that the Council takes very seriously, and has well-established policies on. The organisation’s approach to stress management has begun to change over recent years. Rather than just providing people with stress leave, the Council is now attempting to deal with the source of the stress and take whatever actions it can to eliminate this at source.


There was a common view amongst the majority of staff interviewed that the Council has moved a long way in its attitude to health and safety, that its systems have become much more robust, and that health and safety is taken much more seriously now than it has been in the past. This is reflected in improved health and safety performance.

There is no question that systems have been established that quickly and effectively respond to any issues that arise. In the continued culture change that is evident, the Council is now moving to a more pro-active approach. For example, safe work method statements have been developed for high-risk tasks that include a description of the task, photos of the task being completed, a description of the

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sequence in which work is to be performed, actual and potential risks, and proposed action and control measures. Dates for review are included in the database. Employees working on that task are trained in all aspects of the safe work method and when assessed as competent this is included on their training record.

As part of this continuing culture change, it is also evident that the systems focus (which is a strength of the Council’s approach to health and safety management) is being complemented by attention being paid to human factors. This is resulting in greater attention being paid to risk assessment and helping staff to understand how they can better assess and respond to risk.

Despite the general view that Council had moved a long way in its commitment to health and safety, there was also a view amongst a number of staff interviewed that a degree of lip service was being paid to health and safety amongst some senior managers. It was clear that some managers interviewed had an authentic and high level of personal responsibility for the people working for them, evidenced by their expectation that they be immediately informed of any health and safety issues and have these resolved as quickly as possible.

However, it is also the case that staff reported that in some areas, managers do not attend health and safety meetings that they are expected to be at, do not pay sufficient attention to risk, place low priority on reporting near misses and generally do not “get” the importance of health and safety. The continued existence of these attitudes constitutes a brake on the Council’s efforts to improve its health and safety performance.

Contractors

As noted above, improving contractor management is a key goal of the health and safety strategic plan. A considerable amount of Council work is undertaken by private sector firms contracted to the Council. They include projects where there are major hazards (such as building and construction, roading projects) and where risks affect the public as well as employees (e.g., in recreational facilities). As such, the Council has comprehensive systems in place for contractor management, including systems for ensuring adherence to the health and safety standards of Council.

A system of pre-qualification has been in place for the last few years, whereby contractors can submit their health and safety policies. These are assessed by Council staff and if they meet standards entitle the company to registration as a Safety Pre-qualified Contractor. Pre-qualifications are renewed every two years, and allow Council staff to perform work-site audits and inspections post the award of any tender.

For the senior managers responsible for managing large contracts, health and safety was reported to be the number one priority, and the systems in place for managing these were appropriately robust. In most cases, large infrastructure contracts are completed by large firms who have in place robust standards and procedures, and Council managers have extensive engagement with those firms at a senior level.

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Site safety plans are required to be agreed by Council before work commences, and during projects, the contractor and Council managers meet regularly, with health and safety being the first item on each meeting’s agenda.

Other contracts put out for tender by the Council may be of lesser value and involve smaller companies. In these cases, responsdents to tenders are expected to complete a health and safety questionnaire, including details of safety procedures, hazard identification, training, safety records, accident investigation, emergency procedures and details of any contact had with the labour inspectorate. Random site audits are completed by Council staff in order to ensure that standards are being adhered to. Sanctions for non-compliance are available and include closing a site down and cancelling contracts.

A number of issues were raised around the contracting process and contractor management that demonstrate the complexities of good health and safety management in a principal/contractor situation.

Firstly, while the contractor’s general safety plan is included as part of the tender process, some Council managers noted that this needs to be customised for specific sites and projects in order to be effective. In addition, the Council is reliant on contractors being honest about their systems, and the extent to which their policies and procedures are implemented in practice – as one person noted, “ … their systems may be fine, but how do we make sure that it gets to the guy at the end of the spade?”.

Secondly, while processes are in place for auditing and spot checking to ensure that contractors are meeting the standards that they had signed up to, there were varying opinions on how effective these procedures were. It was generally agreed that large contracts with regular contractors maintained high standards, and that the Council had staff with sufficient expertise to assess their quality. In relation to smaller, one-off contracts, there was a view that contractors were less rigorous and that more resource needed to be put into closer monitoring. In addition, some Council managers were of the view that they did not have the expertise to adequately monitor the health and safety standards of some contractors - for example, a librarian might not be well placed to understand hazards associated with contractors doing electrical work or internal maintenance in a library.

Lastly, the attitudes of contractors to health and safety were generally felt to be problematic by a number of managers. Concerns were particularly expressed about small firms, who were characterised as seeing health and safety as “getting in the way of doing the job”, and contractors who employed sub-contractors without ensuring that they have adequate health and safety systems in place. Also noted was the issue of contractors quoting low prices on a contract, and cutting back on health and safety when their costs exceeded what they had quoted.

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What is working well at Tauranga City Council

• The general approach to health and safety is systematic and comprehensive • A culture change is evident, with most staff noting that health and safety is

being taken much more seriously than in the past. • The move to reporting and analysing near misses has got traction, although

some staff note that the paperwork involved is resulting in some under-reporting.

• A new strategic plan for health and safety improvements over the period 2012-2105 has been agreed and is being implemented

• The Council has comprehensive systems in place for ensuring that staff working for businesses doing work on contract with the Council have their health and safety protected, and that procedures and policies are effectively enforced.

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Contract Coatings Ltd

Company Contract Coatings Ltd

Location visited Site visit CBD, Auckland and office in Glenfield, Auckland

Business structure Contract Coatings Ltd is a private/family business. It is run by the owner and governed by a Board of three employees and an independent adviser

What the company does Contract Coatings is a commercial and residential painting contractor

Number of employees 32, plus labour hire staff as required

Types of jobs in the company Sanding, spraying, painting (brush and rolling)


One part-time (3 days a week) Health and Safety Co-ordinator, who reports to the Commercial Manager


Contract Coatings Limited (CCL) is an Auckland based commercial and residential painting contractor. Information on CCL’s website states that:

“ CCL is a registered member of Master Painters New Zealand. Our employees are extensively trained tradesmen and brush-hands. As members of Site Safe New Zealand, they each sit a Commercial Passport course, with leading hands attending Advanced Passport courses and supervisors attending Gold Card courses. We have employees trained in Workplace First Aid, Working at Height Unit 15757 and HIANZ Silver Operators Course for various elevated work platforms. We actively participate in the ACC Workplace Management Safety Programme in which we are proud to have been awarded Tertiary accreditation (the highest level of achievement) for our workplace safety”.

CCL has it own health and safety management systems, but as a subcontractor to large firms also needs to comply with the systems set down by those companies. Staff from CCL take a regional and national interest in health and safety. The Managing Director has recently stood down from the Chair of Site Safe, a position he has held for the last seven years. The Health and Safety Coordinator attends the two-monthly Northern Safety Liaison Group Site Safe Meeting and stated that they were the only subcontracting firm to attend.

As a subcontractor to large construction firms CCL is required, as part of the their tender process, to state how they will manage health and safety. The company also

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conforms to the main contractor’s health and safety polices and practices once in workplaces. The Managing Director believes that the attention CCL pays to health and safety gives them a commercial advantage, but the primary reason for the priority they give to it is that they do not want people to hurt themselves while at work. As he said, “Overtime the workforce has brought into this and it gives us a point of difference as a contractor. We are professional and we look after our people.”

As a subcontractor CCL works on large building sites where the most common hazards to control are trips, slips, and falls caused by materials or conditions on site. For example the workers commented that this might include gear left lying around, power leads, holes not covered over, working at heights, and the general conditions common to building sites such as other contractors’ equipment, dust and noise. Hazards more specific to painting work include chemicals in some of the painting products, for example, those that contain isocyanide.

While CCL has to take into consideration the work that is going on around them, they also have to manage other site workers in the CCL environment. For example fumes and smells are an issue when painting and while the painters are supplied with and wear masks, this might not be the case for other workers on the site. To control for this CCL puts signs up, ask other site workers to work in other areas, and put a notice on the site hazard board.


The health and safety practices and procedures at CCL are documented in a comprehensive Health and Safety manual. The Managing Director said that in relation to developing the system they “started with a clean slate and over time have developed systems in line with Site Safe”. The Health and Safety Committee review their manual annually.

A part-time Health and Safety Co-ordinator, who reports to the Commercial Manager, oversees health and safety at CCL. Her role is to document the systems, develop site-specific safety plans for new sites and conduct fortnightly site audits to ensure that the plan is being followed. The site audit is conducted using the job details form, observations on site and a discussion with the supervisor. Information is then entered into the Safety Management System.

While the Health and Safety Co-ordinator manages the operational side of health and safety the managing director takes a very hands-on approach too. He does this at the start of contracts by going to meetings with the Co-ordinator, attending half of the site Health and Safety Committee meetings, attending some of the on-site CCL tool box meetings and reading the minutes of all these meetings.

At the site level health and safety is managed in a number of ways. Firstly there are hazard notices at each of the entry gates that list the hazards for all workers on the site. Health and safety issues specific to CCL employees are discussed at fortnightly tool box meetings. Included in these discussions are accidents and near misses.

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These meetings are minuted, and include for example issues related to a dirty site, trip hazards, and trenches not barriered off. Workers are also kept informed through memos that are included with their weekly pay slips.

In addition to CCL carrying out their own site audits Site Safe also conduct an audit every two years. In the alternate year the ACC’s Workplace Safety Management Practices programme audit is conducted, with CCL continuing to hold tertiary level accreditation.


The process for hazard identification is detailed in the Health and Safety manual. As already discussed, hazards are identified at the start of every new contract / site. The Health and Safety Co-ordinator believes that the most important aspects of the health and safety system is the task analysis that asks “how are you going to do your job and control hazards along the way” and the follow-up site inspections that incorporate observing and talking to the workers, checking their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and the paper work. The co-ordinator believes that a site presence is very important. She commented that she had seen a change in attitude over the years, that where staff had started out defensive they “now get something out of it.” The workers commented that the company is always around “so we don’t do anything dumb”. However they also acknowledged that the company “was not running a crèche” so the workers are expected to know how to do their job and keep safe.

The CCL painters thought that it was possible to eliminate, isolate or minimise the hazards in their own work for example by wearing the appropriate PPE, but it was sometimes more difficult to control the hazards related to work being conducted by other contractors working around them. And the reverse also applies. They sometimes have to work in situations where that may put other workers at risk. Where this is the situation they look to minimise the risk for example with spray painting, they put information on the main Hazard ID board, put up signage in the area and using fans if appropriate.


The workers were clear about the processes that are used for reporting issues related to health and safety in CCL and commented that the company takes it very seriously. The workers are expected firstly to report to the foreman, who then talks with the supervisor or the Health and Safety Co-ordinator. The foreman all have work cell phones that can be used for any work related needs or incidents. All issues are also reported to the main contractor.

As the painters work on sites away from the main office near miss and incident forms are kept on site, filled out by the workers or foreman and sent through to the CCL office and the main contractor.

The workers were aware of the site audits and stated that there were no issues getting the right equipment for the job such as hard hats, high visibility clothing,

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gloves, overalls, and full face respirators, “if you want it you get it, if the job requires it”.

The workers and their foreman were also very clear about the reporting processes that were to be used for accidents and near misses. They commented that for the most part, that while accidents happen, they were minor, for example, cuts caused by catching fingers on a nail or paper cuts.

The company keeps a record of accidents, incidents and near misses and compares this annually. The summary report for 2012 shows that while there have been very few accidents or incidents, these have resulted in lost time days, especially for two workers, one of whom firstly injured himself when he slipped and fell and secondly when he re-injured his back pouring paint into a tray.

All loss time injuries are required to be reported to the main contractor. CCL are proud of the record they have with one of the large construction company’s who conduct post construction evaluations and have given CCL a 98.5% safety rating on a major project.

CCL has a documented process for conducting investigations that are carried out by the health and safety co-ordinator. The process follows the ACC guidelines and is documented in the Health and Safety manual. CCL will also call on the help of a Site Safe Advisor if they feel they need to.

Training

Workers at CCL are introduced to the health and safety systems at induction where they are given the main points of the company’s health and safety practices and the site-specific safety measures. This is followed by a visit from the Health and Safety Co-ordinator a month later where she checks that they have understood and are using safe practices and the worker and co-ordinator sign a form attesting to this.

As outlined above employees of CCL hold a Site Safe Commercial Passport, with leading hands attending Advanced Passport courses and supervisors attending Gold Card courses. Employees are trained in Workplace First Aid, Working at Height Unit 15757 and HIANZ Silver Operators Course for various elevated work platforms. The Health and Safety Co-ordinator has been trained to Site Safe Gold Card level, including about how to conduct an accident investigation. All employees hold Site Safe Passports.


Toolbox meetings provide the main opportunity for all workers to engage in discussions about health and safety. Employees also have the opportunity to be part of the formal Health and Safety Committee.

The Health and Safety Committee is made up of six – seven standing members including, senior managers, supervisors, foremen and staff. It is a joint management and employee consultative group that aims to identify and resolve health and safety

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issues, as well as monitor and review the progress of the safety management plan30. Members are elected on an annual basis. The committee meets four times a year and two guests (staff members) are invited to meetings. The attendees are workers who are given paid work time to attend. The meeting provides the guests the opportunity to learn more about Health and Safety at CCL.

The meetings can also include external guests who are invited in to talk on specialist topics or give demonstrations.


Occupational health monitoring is not mandatory but workers are provided with an opportunity annually for respiratory and hearing checks. They can also have a flu vaccination.

Drug testing is undertaken pre-employment. There is no ongoing drug testing by CCL once workers are employed but the main contractor may conduct testing on workers. CCL has zero tolerance of drugs or alcohol in the workplace and there are clear, documented procedures in place to deal with employees who are suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while at work.


The health and safety culture at CCL is driven from the top, as the Managing Director said, “Health and safety isn’t contestable, but we are also mindful that we are in a competitive environment [however] the bottom line is that no one takes risks.” One of the manager’s also thought it was driven from the top, but that it is also “shown at the coal face”. This thinking was confirmed by a worker who commented, “If you’re not going to [take notice] of health and safety then there is no job for you. It is paramount that we all stay safe ... we take it very seriously, look after our mates. We want to go home at the end of the day.”

The safety culture is further exemplified by workers feeling free to speak up about issues. As subcontractors they sometimes have to talk to other workers on the site about issues, for example, scaffolding that is not securely fastened, holes not covered over. They also have the opportunity to talk about health and safety at toolbox meetings, and with their foreman, supervisor and Health and Safety Co-ordinator.

Feeling free to speak up extends to workers saying whether they feel safe working in particular situations. One worker commented that the company “doesn’t force people to work at heights or on swing stages” and that there were no repercussions for speaking up.

The practice of health and safety at the operational level is supported by the well-documented systems that are put into practice, through the work of the Health and Safety Co-ordinator and her ongoing connection with the painters through her visits 30 Taken from Section Three of the CCL’s Health and Safety Manual.

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to the work sites. As she commented, “It is about supporting them, showing them what to do, building a relationship … It is not just about ticking boxes. We do what we say in practice”.

According to the workers paperwork is just part of what they do in their jobs now and they recognise the importance of it: “We have to do the paper work. It is second nature”. “There never used to be paper work but now it is part of running a job”.

What is working well at Contract Coatings Ltd

CCL has a very high standard of practice in health and safety management. Particular areas that stood out were management leadership, the dedicated role of the Health and Safety Co-ordinator, the very specific task analysis that includes a detailed approach to hazard identification and control at the sites CCL is working on. It was also apparent that the workers understood that they have responsibility for health and safety in their work place and they own that.

Issues raised

No issues were commented on by staff at CCL.

CCL say they are always looking to improve their systems and upskill their people to make their jobs and work sites safer.

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Reds

Company Reds

Location/s visited Pukerua Bay

Business structure Privately owned

What the company does Hairdressing salon


Types of jobs in the company Creative Director, Hairdressing stylist, Reception


None, overseen by salon owner

Background and Context

Reds is a hairdressing salon located in a suburb on State Highway One, an hour north of Wellington. The business is 20 years old and has been built up over that time by the current owner. It employs 10 staff, at a mix of skill levels from apprentices though to advanced stylists. All staff work full-time. Staff turnover is very low, and resignations are usually for reasons associated with geographical moves or career development.

Despite low profit margins and the competition for market share that exists between salons, the hairdressing industry in New Zealand exhibits a strong sense of professionalism, and a concern for continuous improvement. This is fostered in New Zealand by regular industry forums; close relationships between the industry, suppliers, training providers, and industry organisations such as the Hairdressing Industry Training Organisation (HITO); annual awards ceremonies, and participation in international competitions and expos (particularly in Australia). Reds is an active participant in these, with the salon owner being closely involved with industry bodies and initiatives and professional associations.

The competitive strategy employed by the business is based on delivering extremely high quality services to clients, with “attention to detail and exceeding expectations”. This is reflected in the range of business and human resource systems in place in the business, with a particular focus on measurement of results across a diverse range of KPIs, that include client numbers, complaints, staff retention, sickness and absence, and environmental waste.

The success of the salon in achieving its business goals is reflected in the fact that it (along with individual members of staff) has received a number of industry awards and accolades. These have included NZ Salon of the Year and Employer of Choice in 2011; Training Salon of the year in 2010; Hairdresser of the Year and Outstanding Young Employee of the Year at local Business Awards.

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Health and Safety management systems

Reds has a system of health and safety management that is appropriate to its size and the nature of the risks faced by employees. It has a comprehensive health and safety manual that has been customised from the generic model put out by the NZ Association of Hairdressers, originally in 2008 but recently updated. The guide contains industry specific information on common hazards experienced in the industry, industry-specific suggestions for how to manage these, and outlines employer responsibilities under the legislation. The usefulness of this resource to the salon owner at Reds demonstrates the important role that industry associations can play in improving workplace health and safety practice, particularly for small and medium sized businesses. Staff were aware of the manual and its contents, and felt comfortable about referring to it if necessary.


The salon has in the last six months gone through a process whereby all staff participated in identifying hazards and thinking about how these can be controlled or what corrective action needs to be taken to reduce risk. The main hazards experienced in this industry are those associated with exposure to chemicals, including inhalation, skin disorders, and allergic reactions. It was noted that the reduction of risk in this area over recent years had largely been client-driven, with customers wanting products to have fewer toxic side-effects and be more environmentally friendly. While there are a small number of products that are still a bit toxic, Reds aim to ensure that the salon is well ventilated.

Other hazards that have been identified at the salon include the possibilities of trips and falls (e.g., from hair or water on the floor, chemical spills, children of clients, footrests), muscular-skeletal problems from standing all day in awkward positions, gradual-process disorders from tool usage, cuts (from scissors and razors), and burns (from hot tools). In each of these cases, staff have identified actions to be taken to manage risks and note that they maintain a “sub-conscious consciousness” toward managing risks on a continual basis. These mostly involve preventative strategies such as use of barrier creams or gloves, frequent cleaning of the floor of the salon, and use of ergonomically designed tools. In addition, the salon owner ensures that staff are properly trained in how to stand to minimise the possibility of back problems arising from poor posture, and has made use of a family member who is a trained physiotherapist to come in to undertake assessments of posture.


A note is taken of any incidents that occur, although these are generally minor. The most significant current issue is with a staff member who has been suffering from dermatitis that has been exacerbated through contact with water and chemicals. Measures taken to manage this have included limiting the type of work undertaken and sourcing alternative supplies of gloves.

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Training

An integral part of the salon’s business strategy is workforce development and significant investment is made in training at all levels. Trainees are signed onto the National Certificate in Hairdressing (Salon Support) and move onto the National Certificate in Hairdressing (Professional Stylist) at Level 4. Qualification completion requires 35 credits at Level 5 including a substantive assessment of skill in a commercial workplace environment.

An in-salon trainer has direct and acknowledged responsibility for training apprentices and is present for at least 75% of the working hours for which the apprentice is employed. On-job training is complemented by off-job training during day release courses (20 days per annum for the first two years of an apprenticeship) at a local Polytechnic. Both on-job and off-job training and assessment integrates health and safety standards and processes.

In addition, the Salon Owner has completed the HITO National Certificate in Hairdressing (Management) that consists of 13 compulsory units in three strands. Three of these units are directly or indirectly related to occupational health and safety – Managing First Aid, Creating and maintaining a safe and supportive working environment and Developing and maintaining a safe and supportive working environment. A range of other units (particularly those related to communications) also includes material related to health and safety.

Health and safety is an integral part of training. Two staff (one who has recently completed an apprenticeship and the other who is nearing completion) noted that a health and safety component was included as an integral part of assessment for all training modules. The salon owner also adheres to a philosophy that staff should take individual responsibility for their own wellbeing, and encourages staff to make healthy choices in the way that they live their lives. This has extended to paying for staff to attend Pilates classes and have massages. It was also notable that there was an appreciation amongst staff that a concern for their own welfare would be reflected in good service to clients.

Employee Participation

Staff meet daily for 15 minutes and have a longer meeting once a week. Any health and safety issues that arise are addressed in these forums. Openness and respect are a hallmark of communications

Health and Safety culture

The health and safety culture at Reds, as in many hairdressing salons, is driven by a focus on clients and client safety. Open and respectful communication between staff members flows on to the relationship with clients. Over recent years there has been a significant improvement in the types of products that are used in hairdressing, with a considerable reduction in the levels of toxicity. This has been done in response to customer demands for more natural products, and greater attention to sustainability.

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What is working well at Reds

There is open communication which allows and health and safety issues to be raised as they come up

Staff have a good understanding of the health and safety issues that face them in their work environment

Despite being a small workplace, health and safety systems are in place and have been approached in a systematic way.

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Pye South Stream Dairy Farm

Company South Stream Dairy Ltd

Location visited South Stream, South Canterbury

Business structure South Stream Dairy Ltd is owned by Leighton, Michelle and Alan Pye

What the company does Dairy farm

Number of employees Five including the contract managers and their three employees

Types of jobs in the company Dairy farming including milking, feeding out, fencing, spraying, irrigating, calf rearing and office work.


None. The contract manager has overall responsibility for health and safety


In January 2012, farming was reported as being the “deadliest job in New Zealand, claiming a life every three weeks on average. In 2011 farming was the riskiest occupation, followed by construction, forestry and transport. Quad bike and tractor accidents are reported as being the most common causes of death on farms” 31. A farm health and safety specialist, D’Arcy Palmer, Director of Farmers for Farm Safety Ltd, described the annual number of fatalities on farm as “having a Pike River Coalmine tragedy in farming every year”.

As part of their agricultural business, Pye Partnership own five dairy farms, including South Stream Dairy. This farm is located just south of the Rangitata River in South Canterbury and has 1200 cows. Contract milkers, who have been on the farm for two years manage the farm. Pye Partnership owns the herd, the plant and equipment. The contract milkers own the farm vehicles and employ the three staff.

Following an accident on one of the Pye’s cropping farms a Department of Labour investigator suggested the Pyes contact Palmer to work with contracted staff on their farms to establish, formalise and implement health and safety systems and procedures.

Pye identify the contract milkers as the ones responsible for the safety of their staff as they are the employees, rather than Pye Partnership. As the owners, Pye do not check health and safety, but it is part of the annual contract and the contractors are expected to report any incidents. The owner of Pye Partnership stated that they are

31 http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/6205517/Farm-is-deadliest-workplace

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in the process of updating the section of the contracts related to health and safety as the current section was not sufficiently explicit and that while health and safety had not previously been a priority, it now was.

Pye Partnership put out a two-monthly newsletter that is usually health and safety based or includes something about health and safety. For example, a write up of a recent incident that has been reported on one of the farms. The owner commented that this approach was necessary as “It was impossible to get people together.” However, having said this Pye does try and organise an event based around health and safety during winter, for example getting a speaker in or doing first aid training. The owner thought that the most effective way to convey the health and safety message was by having a speaker who had been involved in a farm accident and through pictures of injuries.


Just prior to the case study visit Palmer had spent time at South Stream working with the contractors and their employees to develop documented systems for Health and Safety. The process Palmer used includes the following:

• Discuss the legal requirements and responsibilities of farm owners, employers and employees under the H&SE Act 1992 and Road Transport Authority

• Discuss any current concerns on farm and set policies regarding children on farm, children on farm machinery and in the vicinity of intensive work areas

• The use of Personal Protective Equipment and legal requirements • A tour of the farm with the contractors in order to advise on control methods

for all farm hazards • Develop a comprehensive farm hazard register • Develop documented systems for recording health and safety incidents,

incidents of near miss and task training • Talk with all employees to ensure all have the opportunity to participate and

contribute to the systems that are developed for the client farm ensuring staff take ownership of their job

• Discuss the consequences of a serious harm incident and give examples of real life tragedies

• Ensure all staff are trained to be emergency ready.

Palmer believes this customised and participatory approach is important as there is general disdain for off the shelf health and safety products and all employees need to be part of the health and safety process, “Because I have to protect the owner, the employer and the employee but I also want to make sure those employees have the information. You can’t leave anything to chance.”

The workers at South Stream commented that they appreciated the time Palmer had spent with them and the opportunity they had had for input. They commented that Palmer’s forms were simple and easy and that, “We thought health and safety might be a bit over the top, but it was reasonable, common sense based principles.” South

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Stream has appointed one of the workers as the health and safety officer. The employees were also left with copies of health and safety documentation.


As noted above South Stream now has a well documented system, including a hazard identification register. Before this was formally documented the contractor had a number of systems in place to control for hazards.

Hazards exist with all farm work and the contract manager was clear he had a policy of not allowing people to do jobs unless he was sure that they were capable of it, “Don’t put people out of their capability … they do dumb s**t … [as] pretty much everything on a farm is a hazard”. He was also insistent that his workers use the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment, (PPE) for example harness and helmet when working on the grain silos or pivots and that they use equipment appropriately. For example, “Don’t take big risks [with] bales. The forks take three bales so don’t take four … they weigh a ton each.” However, he admitted he himself did not always follow his own rules. The manager further ensures the safety of his workers by having fully warranted vehicles and not having quad bikes on the farm as he thought that workers drive them too fast and dangerously, “We had a new one for a week and it was rolled four times.”

South Stream has a hazard map on a white board at the milking shed. This map marks out the hazards on the farm, for example, the bore holes, hydrants, pivots, pivot crossings, ponds and pylons. There is an additional board of the random hazards. All visitors to the farm are expected to report to the manager and check this map before driving the farm. However, having said this the manager said this was not always the case. The hazard map is now part of the new health and safety systems manual.

The workers stated that it was not possible to eliminate hazards but provided examples of how they can isolate and minimise them in the milking shed. Their examples included, having the practice of only being allowed to turn a machine on if you were the person who had turned it off and putting salt or warm water on the icy floors in winter.

One of the themes that come through in the discussion with Palmer was the impact of fatigue and long hours on the health and safety of workers. The South Stream contract manager was also aware of this and believes time management was key to ensuring a safe workplace. This approach included rotating staff through shifts and working efficiently so workers do not work long hours and get over tired. The workers thought this approach worked as they felt they had time to do things properly and so didn’t think they took risks or short cuts.

While there were no formal daily meetings there were on-job discussions, with the key principle, according to the manager, being, “Keep it simple and everyone knows what they are doing”.

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The contract manager is expected to report all incidents to Pye Partnership. In the case of serious incidents, an inspector from Group Labour at the Ministry of Innovation, Business and Employment investigates these. None of the staff has accident investigation training.

However, the contract manager has not been involved with an accident requiring investigation and commented that, “In 14 years he had never been inspected”. While he was proud of his record he thought there should be some system for checking all farms. This view was also held by Palmer who thought there were not enough staff to monitor, audit and investigate farms, “All they need is the Department of Labour out there, scooting around, going in the gate, frightening the s**t out of them. Does it happen? No, because MBIE staff do not have the time or the numbers of suitably qualified farming staff, only two I know of”.

Training

South Stream farm workers do nearly all of their training on-job, so the contract manager signs it off. He is of the view that off-job training run by the Industry Training Organisation has “gone down hill”. In addition, it is difficult for workers to get to it and fit it in around their work. Some health and safety training is included in Pye farm group days. Two of the staff are first aid trained, including the new health and safety officer.


While South Stream farm is new to a formalised and documented approach to health and safety, all the workers were involved in the discussions that informed the system. They are also expected to read the written material that had been given to them as part of the newly documented process.


There were no occupational health checks or health monitoring.


The culture of health and safety at South Stream is demonstrated through the awareness of the hazards associated with dairying and practices and processes to eliminate and minimise hazards. The contractors’ willingness to have Palmer to the farm to work with them shows their commitment to continue the work they have had underway. The full involvement of workers in this process also provides a basis for emphasising that everyone is responsible for health and safety at a workplace.

What is working well at Pye South Stream Dairy

South Stream Dairy is new to documented systems of health and safety. The commitment to developing heath and safety systems, which, from the comments of

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the manager and the workers, shows that this was the next step to improving the practices, they had underway.

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Sealord Group Ltd

Company Sealord Group Ltd


Business structure: Sealord is privately owned with shareholding being shared equally by Aotearoa Fisheries Ltd (on behalf of the Maori people of New Zealand) and Nippon Suisan Kaisha Ltd

What the company does Seafood fish harvesting, processing and marketing

Number of employees Over 1000

Types of jobs in company Executive managers, fish processing operators, health and safety staff, factory management and team leaders, skippers, deck hands, crew members, vessel coordinators, fleet managers, business analysts, sales staff.

Number of dedicated H & S staff:

7


Sealord is the second largest seafood company in New Zealand in terms of catch, and one of the country’s Top 60 in terms of revenue. In addition to its New Zealand operations, it operates wholly owned businesses and Joint Ventures in Australia, the UK and Argentina. It has a marketing presence in 60 countries, with main markets being Australia (22%) Europe (20%), New Zealand (16%) and Japan and Asia (17%).

Sealord has a values statement that reads as follows:

Safety First of our people at the forefront of all we do. Respect for our resource and each other. Understanding the Responsibility we carry. An Innovative approach to our daily work. Collaboration with those around us.

This values statement reflects a commitment by Sealord to protect and reduce their impact on the environment through sustainable fisheries management.

Sealord’s high level of commitment to good health and safety management has been in place since the early 2000s, under the leadership of the previous Chief Executive, who had a strong commitment to improving health and safety. He had put a change process in place and had been making headway with this when a fatality on a fishing vessel occurred. This drove the company to recognise that its existing improvement efforts had not gone far enough, and led to an even more robust process for improving health and safety. A goal of Zero Lost Time Injuries is now the most important KPI against which the company measures its safety performance.

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Sealord’s Nelson operations involve both a fishing fleet and shore-based processing. The fishing fleet is made up of 5 trawlers, each of which has two alternating crews. There are three shore-based factories – one that processes wet fish, a second producing coated products, and a third which processes by-products.


Sealord’s health and safety system is required to meet the standards set out in the Marine Transport Act 1994, as well as those set out in the Health and Safety in Employment Act (HSE Act).

As noted above, the core organisational value is “Safety First”, and the vision to support this core value is “No Injuries”. The CEO is responsible to the Board for the establishment and implementation of the health and safety programme and all employees, contractors and visitors have responsibility for ensuring that no action or inaction taken by them at work will cause harm to themselves or anyone else. A health and safety policy for 2012 – 2014 has been developed, with 5 strategic pillars:

• Being an integral partner in protecting people’s safety and wellbeing • Setting standards and providing tools to improve the physical work

environment • Culture change – shaping thinking, attitudes and behaviour • Systems and organisation – having clear expectations around health and

safety. • Showcasing Sealord’s reputation for keeping people safe.

Sealord has in place a health and safety policy, signed by the Chief Executive Officer in November 2012, and based on the principle of making sure that “all our people return home safe and well”. It includes the following components:

• A goal of zero injuries • Focusing on encouraging safe behaviour • Requiring managers and skippers to champion health and safety as a key

priority • Systematic identification and management of hazards • Effective risk management • Requiring employee participation in “Stay Safe” programmes • Encouraging early reporting of injuries and near misses.

Implementation of the policy is through an organization-wide “Stay Safe” programme (with a “Fishing Safe” programme on board vessels), the various elements of which are described throughout this report. A comprehensive health and safety manual includes standards and procedures for a number of specific work processes (e.g., working at heights, confined spaces, forklifts) and for general health and safety processes (e.g., hazard identification, modifications to plant or processes).


Systematic processes are in place for hazard identification and control in each work area. In addition to annual hazard reviews, WALK and TALK procedures (described below) are used to identify any unsafe conditions, processes and practices, and to

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afford staff an opportunity to participate in the identification of hazards and hazard management. Job safety analysis processes are also used to break jobs into steps and look for any hazardous activities that may be involved and Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been developed for a high proportion of jobs.

Particular processes are needed for hazard identification and control for vessels. Because of the nature of work at sea, some controls may lose their effectiveness over time (e.g., being a moving platform can cause wear and tear at a faster rate) or may not be able to be controlled easily (e.g., boat rolling in rough weather which can increase the likelihood of trip and falls, or exposure to moving belts and machinery). If hazards arise in the course of a trip, Skippers have responsibility for identifying what can be done immediately to either eliminate the hazard there and then, or if necessary to put temporary measures in place to minimize or isolate the hazard. When the vessel docks, senior staff hold a 2-3 hour meeting during which they will collate all information on hazards, incidents and near misses that have occurred during the voyage. These are provided for review by the on-coming crew and incorporated into the next trip health and safety plan.

In some cases, hazards involve repairs and maintenance, and these are collated into a work list. Where possible, actions that may need remedying when the vessel is next in port are identified in advance so that these can be completed at turnaround, but this needs to be done within the 24-36 hours the vessel is in port. In some cases work is not able to be completed in this time frame, although there have been cases where Skippers have refused (on health and safety grounds) to put the boat to sea until work is completed. In other cases the complexity of the repair and maintenance work means an initial assessment of the work needing to be done is undertaken during turnaround and the job undertaken after the next voyage. In cases where work is unable to be completed, interim controls are put in place.

Sealord has a risk assessment matrix in place for managing and recording the risk associated with any specific hazard. The matrix uses two factors to assess risk:

• “Most Likely Consequence” – e.g., the number and type of injuries that may have resulted from the hazard in the past, how many people might be affected. These are assessed on a 5-point scale which runs from “Disastrous” through to “Minor first aid injuries”

• “Likelihood” – the frequency of exposure to the hazard, including the number of people exposed to the hazard and how frequently that happens. These are assessed on a 5-point scale that runs from “Will almost certainly occur” through to “Extremely unlikely to occur”.

Risks are “scored”, and allocated to four categories of risk (high, moderate, low and very low). The score determines the range of controls to be taken in relation to that risk and range from notifying the manager of that work area by the next shift for very low risks through to immediate notification to the site manager for high risks.

In talking to workers and managers about hazard identification processes, there was a general view that systems are working well. However, there were some caveats to this, outlined below:

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• Some managers believed that although staff were good at identifying physical hazards, it was much more difficult to get them to think about environmental or process hazards.

• There was a view amongst some that a focus on hazard control had encouraged some complacency, and that a bigger challenge was to encourage risk assessment by workers and encouraging safe behaviour.

• There were differences in view on hazard identification and management between factory staff and staff working on vessels. Amongst factory staff and managers there was a consistent view that systems were comprehensive and worked well. There was also a view that when things were reported upwards, decisions were always made with safety in mind and resources were available for any capital expenditure that was needed. Amongst sea-going staff, attitudes were very different. A consistently expressed view was that the hazard identification system was too complicated. Aspects that were singled out as being difficult included too much paper work, taking too much time to complete, and posing difficulties in particular for staff with literacy and numeracy issues. The consequences of this were argued to be an under-reporting of minor incidents and near misses that occurred on vessels.


Sealord encourages early reporting of all incidents and accidents, the most common of which are arm and shoulder overuse injuries, slips (on wet floors) and back sprains and strains (particularly on vessels). Reported incidents or near misses that have not resulted in an accident or injury are expected to be followed up by the manager of the area concerned to ensure that hazards are eliminated or controlled.

Any accidents are subject to an internal investigation within 7 days, with responsibility for this being with the manager responsible for the area in which the accident occurred. There is a focus on identifying immediate and basic causes, and identifying corrective actions that need to be taken, with an expectation that these will occur as soon as possible after the accident. In order to provide a consistent approach to investigations, a set of standardised categories of causes is used to assist in the analysis of incidents. These include:

• Knowledge and training - whether the individual had sufficient knowledge or skill to complete the job

• Employee selection/placement - whether the appropriate person had been selected to carry out that particular task

• Supervision - whether the person was receiving an appropriate level of supervision at the time

• Engineering/Maintenance/Practices – was the equipment safe and being used safely?

• Personal Protective Clothing – was it fit for purpose, being worn correctly and in good repair?

• Inspection programmes – had systems for monitoring and inspection been followed?

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• Equipment specification and purchasing – whether appropriate equipment had been purchased and properly specified

• Feedback systems – whether information about the hazard had been known and passed on to the right person

• Standards/Practices/Procedures – whether standards existed for that task and were being followed.

In determining corrective actions, there is an expectation that these 9 basic causes are also used to identify immediate causes (such as updating training, fitting machine guards) and basic causes (such as systems or management failures). It is also expected that responsibility for implementing corrective actions is allocated to a manager and time frames for actions to be completed are identified.

A Root Cause Analysis (RCA) process is in place for monthly analysis of most significant incidents, including oversight of progress being made on rectifying outstanding corrective actions. The RCA meeting is attended by the CEO, Head of HR, and Senior managers from Fishing and Operations. The focus of these meetings is on ensuring that corrective actions are taken and on identifying any systemic failures that may have occurred. Managers described the process as being extremely robust in holding them accountable for ensuring that corrective actions are completed within required time frames.

This group is also charged with making decisions on investments or capital expenditure that may be needed to give effect to recommendations that have come out of investigations and that are outside the delegated financial authority of the relevant manager. There were varying views on how well this system worked – while some managers reported that if recommendations had come up through the TALK and Up-TALK processes they were likely to see them signed off on the spot; while others were of the view that decisions on needed capital expenditure (particularly in relation to repairs and maintenance on some of the older boats) were sometimes deferred, and that delays could have implications for safety. However Skippers noted that in the end they were responsible for ship safety, and that they can and did stop boats sailing if necessary on safety grounds.

Training

A variety of methods are used for training staff in both general and job-specific health and safety matters.

All new employees are provided with an induction manual, which is specific to whether the employee is working in the factory or on a vessel. The induction manual for factory employees includes general information on health and safety (including employee responsibilities, systems for employee participation and accident and near miss reporting), emergency procedures, dress and hygiene standards, and misconduct rules (which include a prohibition on working under the influence of alcohol/drugs). The range of actions which are set out as constituting serious misconduct include breaches of safety rules, working in an unsafe manner and actions that could result in injury to the individual or others in their team.

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The induction manual for vessels contains a range of information relating to safety at sea, with about two-thirds of the manual covering matters that are directly or indirectly related to health and safety. This also includes a range of provisions such as sanitation and hygiene in respect of a large number of people living in a relatively small space that is also a moving platform, muster procedures in the event of an emergency, and procedures in the event of an ammonia leak. A safety orientation is undertaken that introduces people to the vessel’s safety systems and practices, including the location and used of safety equipment, safe operating procedures and emergency procedures at sea. This requires the worker’s active involvement and sign-off by the employee and the person inducting them.

Several managers and skippers noted however, that induction for new staff making their first voyage was extremely difficult. It is not uncommon for new staff to have less than twelve hours between the time they come onto site and the boat sets out to sea. During that time, they need to complete alot of paper work and take in a significant amount of information. Where there is more than 2-3 people new on a trip this can cause a number of difficulties for them, their colleagues, the Skipper and First Mate who have overall responsibility for health and safety.

Sealord makes a substantial investment in on-going training and has its own internal training programme, delivered by a range of external providers. A number of courses to provide workers with skills necessary to keep them safe in their jobs are available (e.g., working at heights, forklift operator) with a training calendar that is organised 12 months in advance. Courses are also available to provide first-aid training and marine medic training.


A number of systems are in place in Sealord to facilitate employee participation. These include systems established as a result of a formal agreement with the Service and Food Workers Union to encourage employee participation in health and safety, and others that have been put in place as part of Sealord management systems.

In the factory environment (but not on vessels or in administration), daily 3-minute toolbox meetings are held. These generally focus on production issues but are also a primary mechanism to ensure any incidents and near misses in the previous 24 hours have been reported. The main management system for encouraging employee participation and two-way communication between workers and management are the TALK and WALK systems, explained below.

TALK32 is the general term used to describe regularly scheduled meetings on safety issues. They are held at least monthly (or in the case of vessels, twice a trip and once on “turnaround” when the vessel returns to the port) at team, supervisor, departmental and senior executive level. All employees are required to attend TALK meetings at least 10 times a year.

32 Team responsibility, Action items. Learning from others/linked structure, Keep on – review and continuous improvement.

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At business unit level TALK meetings are facilitated by Leading Hands who are expected to prepare for the meeting in advance. Meetings follow a standard format and include the following agenda items:

• Key messages – these are usually on a single topic (e.g., PPE) and used as an opportunity to reinforce safety messages on the topic across the company

• Follow-up on any action points that have been raised previously • Discussion of any new hazards that have arisen and scoring of those hazards

against the risk assessment tool • Reviewing new and existing hazards, including addressing the highest

scoring hazards first • Brainstorming to identify options for how the hazard can be eliminated,

minimized or controlled • Agreeing corrective actions and assigning them to staff for completion.

Any issues that cannot be resolved at a TALK meeting, or that require a decision from further up the management hierarchy (e.g., decisions on capital expenditure outside a manager’s delegated financial authority), are referred to an Up-TALK meeting. Health and safety representatives, senior managers and sometimes the General Manager, depending on the issue under discussion, usually attend up-TALK meetings. At the highest level, Up-TALK meetings are attended by the Chief Executive.

WALKs33 are a formal responsibility of line managers, who are expected to conduct WALKs around their work area at least weekly. These are based on reinforcing safe behaviour and identifying unsafe behaviour. Managers are expected to coach team members in conducting WALKs with an expectation that teams will manage health and safety collectively to drive behavioural change. In conducting WALKs, observers are expected to identify both safe and unsafe acts. Where safe acts are identified, positive reinforcement is provided and recorded on the formal WALK form. Where unsafe acts are identified, it is expected the person undertaking the WALK will engage with the employee to think about what risks might be involved with their behaviour and what behaviour might need to change as a result.

The agreement between Sealord and the SFWU, last reviewed in December 2012, also sets out a number of provisions related to the long-standing system in place for health and safety representatives. A number of these provisions reinforce the provisions of the HSE Act, such as entitlements to training, the right to refuse dangerous work and hazard notices. There are a number of other customised features of the agreement and these are set out below:

• An agreement there will be one health and safety representative for each designated work area, and recognition that work cover may be needed for employee representatives to carry out their roles. As at January 2013, there were 13 health and safety representatives across the processing plants, 10 on vessels (one for each crew) and 7 amongst office staff.

33 Watch/observe, Ask questions, Listen actively, Keep safe

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• Participation of health and safety representatives in Up-TALK meetings. • The fact the system is reviewed every 12 months.

The agreement also specifies the function of health and safety representatives as being:

• To foster positive health and safety management practices • To identify hazards, bring them to the employer’s attention and discuss ways

in which these can be dealt with • To promote the interests of employees in a health and safety context • To discuss health and safety issues with ACC or OSH inspectors when these

occur • To meet with new employees and contractors working in their designated

area • To participate in TALK and Up TALK meetings.

It was evident that the role of health and safety representatives was different in factory and vessel environments. In on-shore work, there is an extremely good relationship between managers and representatives, but representatives largely respond to management initiatives. In vessels, representatives have a bigger role in day-to-day health and safety management, and have continuous contact with the Skipper, First Mate and Engineers. This reflects the fact that the role of the health and safety representative appears to be considerably more demanding on vessels, with workers being much more reliant on them for assistance with health and safety matters, particularly with regard to completion of paperwork associated with the identification of hazards and reporting of incidents.

The health and safety representative system is generally working well, although there are indications that some revisions would be useful. The role is perceived as being hard work, particularly for those representatives working on vessels. There is some feeling that the system as it operates currently has some untapped potential and raising the profile of representatives would help to realise this. Although health and safety representatives work co-operatively there is a view there may be some value in formalising this. Finally, while the agreement envisages health and safety representatives being elected, in practice they are usually shoulder-tapped, or volunteer for the position.

Currently the mix of health and safety representatives include both people who are union delegates (for either the SFWU or the Merchant Service Guild) and those who are not union members.

Relationships between representatives and managers are generally good, although there is a view that there is room for improvement by giving representatives a wider mandate to be pro-active in making health and safety improvements.


Sealord has a health centre at Nelson, with a full time occupational health nurse. Her main responsibilities are pre-employment health checks, occupational health monitoring, return to work/rehabilitation plans, and general health awareness and promotion. She is also available to discuss personal health issues and makes

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referrals to GPs and other service where necessary. In additional to nursing services, a physiotherapist and a doctor are available to treat work related injuries.

The occupational health nurse carries out pre-employment health checks and drugs testing. In roles where staff are exposed to specific hazards, pre-employment tests and annual health monitoring is carried out for (variously) hearing, spirometry, workstation assessment and vision.

A greater focus on occupational health has been noted at Sealord over recent years, attributable to some of the wider changes in culture that have occurred. This has been evident in greater management willingness to release people from production roles to attend their annual monitoring checks. However, it was noted improvements have still been patchy and in some areas managers “could do more”.

Sealord are starting to become more involved in preventative health awareness programmes in a more formal way as part of the implementation of their strategic plan. During the early months of 2013 they undertook cholesterol and blood pressure screening, and will administer the annual flu injection programme later this year. As a result of these programmes a number of people with early indications of health problem have been referred to their GPs for more in-depth diagnosis.


Traditionally, the fishing industry has had a culture where danger was considered an inherent part of the industry and little was done to manage hazards. This culture began to change in the industry as a whole a number of years ago, but change at an organisational level was facilitated in the early 2000s through the appointment of a Chief Executive committed to improving workplace health and safety.

Change initiatives were reinforced after a workplace fatality in 2004 – as one interviewee commented this resulted in a “never again” attitude amongst senior managers in the organisation. Although the company had considered health and safety systems until then had been reasonably robust, this tragedy prompted them to take a more exacting approach to how health and safety systems might be improved.

Since that time a wide range of health and safety initiatives have been employed. Most significantly these have included systems improvements and attempts to improve behavioural safety.

At the current time, the majority of staff who have been with the company for some time, and including front line processing workers and managers, have noted the significant shifts that have occurred in the company’s approach to health and safety management. This includes recognition of the processes put in place across a wide range of health and safety issues such as hazard identification and control, accident investigation, return to work procedures, and the development of wellness policies.

Staff are aware of initiatives put in place to raise the profile of health and safety in the organisation as a whole, and the CEO has taken a number of steps to reinforce its priority, including inculcating this through the management structure and reinforcing health and safety as a management priority. Health and safety is the first item on the agenda for all management meetings, including of the senior management team.

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Leadership is also exhibited at Board level, and by operational managers. In one area, for example, a Skipper had introduced a rewards system for individual crew members taking actions to improve health and safety by actions that went “above and beyond” the requirements of their job description.

As noted earlier, a core value for Sealord is “Safety First”, and three of the strategic pillars included in the company’s health and safety strategic plan are attempting to influence the culture change occurring to embed this value in the company’s operations. Firstly, one of the pillars explicitly indicates the desire for culture change, by shaping thinking attitudes and behaviour with commitment, competency, communication and consistency. Some of the initiatives being put in place to achieve this include refreshing the Stay Safe brand, reviewing and improving training plans and programmes, undertaking more in the way of health promotion and developing additional behavioural change initiatives.

Secondly, by attempting to be an integral partner in people’s safety and wellbeing, Sealord aims to understand and improve the perception of safety across the group and promote and generate enthusiasm for safety, health and wellbeing messages. Finally, attention is being paid to systems and organization, with a view to clarifying expectations through simpler systems accountabilities and responsibilities. This is being done through developing more concise and accurate health and safety reports and revising and renewing the audit programme.

The “Safety First” is reinforced throughout the system through a number of mechanisms. In all position descriptions, health and safety responsibilities are listed first in the lists of key accountabilities, and include a requirement for active involvement in the company’s “Stay Safe” programme (eg; by participating in TALK meetings and WALKs, encouraging safe behaviour, participating in hazard identification and management). Similarly, health and safety is the first agenda item in many management meetings.

A high priority is also given to health and safety in reporting systems. All vessels and groups, and at a higher level Departments, are required to provide monthly and tear to date reports on the total injury frequency rate, lots time injury frequency rate, severity, duration and claim costs. Any incidents resulting in injury (categorised as lost time injuries, medical treatment injuries or restricted work injuries) must also be reported. These statistics are collated and provided to the Board on a regular basis, with commentary on trends and any significant incidents that have occurred.

Overall assessments of the health and safety systems operating at Sealord are that they feature amongst New Zealand’s best. Significant improvements have been made over time, and the company has a much better understanding of the risks facing it and how to manage these. In the opinion of workers and manager interviewed however, a number of issues remain. These include:

• Addressing behavioural issues around safe work practices • Managing repairs and maintenance concerns around older and leased

vessels

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• Ensuring clear communication about the relative priorities of health and safety, production targets and finances.

A significant culture change has occurred at Sealord over the last decade, and staff recognize that major change has occurred. At the same time, there is a view that this change is still fragile and could result in backsliding. The challenge over next 5 years is to have a culture in which all decisions are made with health and safety being at the top of the criteria for decision-making, and promoting a culture of behavioural safety.

What is working well at Sealord

• Senior management are leading health and safety improvement processes and have an evident commitment to these through the “Staying Safe” programme and the “Safety First” message.

• WALK and TALK systems • Accident investigation and accountability – immediate reporting, and

expectation that things will improve

Issues raised

• Paperwork and accountability is perceived as being too onerous, particularly on vessels

• There are issues with the regulator (both MNZ and Labour Inspectorate) – their level of knowledge and managing relationships

• There is a challenge in keeping the health and safety message fresh across the organisation

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